The Raptor of life
by Iori Angel
Summary: Jean Grey's soul is melded with the one of a recently deceased female geek who knows her marvel lore, as she realizes that she was in the Marvel universe; this new Jean Grey takes her destiny in hand to escape her dire fate. This story is also available on RoyalRoad and scribble hub.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

Annandale-on-Hudson  
New York  
1996

"I will repeat it as much as you want, baldie. I am not going to become one of your child soldiers, nor would I let a potential mind rapist in my head. So, back off." I said as I batted away the telepathic tendrils of the bald man. I narrowed my eyes, sensing the bald man trying to probe my mind when I refused his help the first time.

However, thanks to my words he stopped, making him sputter in embarrassment as they hit the mark. This caused dad and mom to stand in shock upon hearing my colorful language."Jean!" Mother cried, outraged.

My mother, Elaine's eyes were wide and her mouth agape, however I couldn't find it in myself to care since they brought Professor Charles Xavier despite me doing fine. Where did I go wrong? I controlled my abilities and was doing well at school.

My father took a tissue from his breast pocket and dappled his forehead. It was evident that he was nervous. "Charles, I am sorry I…"

The bald man looked at me with sad eyes, and was this regret? "No, John. This is my fault, she had a right to be angry." Xavier said, finally turning his head towards my dad.

"What are you sorry for? Jean is the one being rude." Father's eyes when he looked at me promised that we were going to have some words when the good baldie left..

"He tried to probe my mind." I replied smoothly, anger lacing my voice.

I had been waiting for this moment, training really hard when my abilities were activated; since that day Annie died. For once, I didn't fail. Though, the Marvel universe was now going to give me a giant 'fuck you'. Xavier looked resigned about something, his shoulders sagging, and he seemed to take an important decision, to reveal something about himself. My eyes widened as I leaned forward in panic; don't do it old man, don't!

"Charles?" My father didn't know what to say to his friend, as he had picked up the same signs as me.

Were they really friends? I would be disappointed if they were and lose respect toward my father. As for mother, she leaned on the black sofa, staring at me as though I wasn't her daughter. "I am the same as her, we possess abilities to reach minds other than our own. And I have to say, your daughter is extremely well advanced in her abilities for someone who is self-taught." Xavier complimented, as he leaned in his wheelchair and smiled at me.

"Aww, baldy is trying to butter me up." I crossed my legs, placing my hand on my thighs primly, my confrontational attitude intact. I didn't want to have anything to do with the man or the X-Men right now and surely not meeting with Summers.

"It was easy when I discovered how it works." I harrumphed angrily, why do meddlers like him…

My train of thought halted, as I saw my parents looking at us as if we were crazy.

Xavier smiled, eager to speak. "You are aware of the Ast-"

My telekinetic grip sealed his mouth, silencing him. "You shouldn't use that name here. Seriously, old man you come into my home try to probe my head and air my secret out to my parents, how should I take this?"

I almost snapped his neck with telekinesis at this moment, almost.

"Jean?" Mother muttered, as she sat frozen and gazing at me as if she looked at me for the first time.

"Mother, I am sorry to show you this side of me. I… expected to not have to tell either of you in fact about my abilities." I said as I levitated in the air with the different figurine on the low table now orbiting around my body.

I had been training my telekinesis since it manifested when I was thirteen years old. This was easy for me since I could do so much more.

"What? How?" Mother looked frightened, her knowledge of the world seemingly shattered. Mother loved normality, she thought that stability and never rocking the boat was how everyone should live their life.

Sighing, I released my hold on Xavier who looked surprised by this. As for Father, he looked ready to faint. Too bad for them-they shouldn't have sprang this meeting on me. I had been trying really hard to avoid meeting Charles Xavier on his terms.

To me, the good professor was a part of the problem of why Jean Grey's life was shitty to begin with. Everyone wanted to control me: my parents, Xavier, and all my future and current enemies. Why do I think that? That's because I am not originally Jean Grey, my soul? Consciousness and memories? They have merged with the redhead's own.

Was I a fake? An interloper that stole Jean Grey's future? I didn't feel like discussing philosophy in my current situation. I extended my feet to the ground and landed before the Professor, towering over him.

"So, as you can see I don't need your help my good professor. In fact, I would do you a solid and tell you about the trust-me-field that you seem to be unaware of generating. I will give you a pass for that. You should do something about it, it ain't good to force others even if it isn't deliberate." Baldy gasped at that and readily closed his eyes, showing an introspective expression to look at what I have accused him off. While he was doing that, I looked at my parents and invited them to sit and said, "Mom, Dad, since the Professor outed me… I need to tell you about everything."

I felt the waves of fear and guilt off my mother, and my heart broke as I felt it. Should I turn off my empathy? Or leave it on? I feel like I wouldn't be able to speak with her at all if it is. But my instinct told me not to. Regarding my dad, he remained stoic on the outside but was a mess inside. He thought that he had done something wrong even though inviting Xavier was caused for… his worry for me. He was a sweet man and a doting father, which is why I didn't want to tell them about my powers.

"Jean you don't have to." Father said, raising his hands to wave everything away.

But I couldn't let it go, as baldy was coming back from his introspective meditation, and he looked shocked- and dare I say upset? It put a smile on my face, because I just tanked his confidence. Good, I did something that might change his fate.

My eyes focused on mother's who braved her fear and said, "We… we love you Jean."

I would have believed her if I didn't see the tension in her shoulders and the way she avoided making eye contact with me. Shaking my head, I said, "No, I must tell you otherwise it will fester between us. I know you mom, you like normality too much. But I am not normal, not since I was ten years old." Despite my wishes, tears began trickling down my cheeks. I wiped them with my sleeves and I asked, "Can… I tell you what happened to me?"

The fear stopped abruptly, mother launched from her sofa and hugged me tightly and began to kiss my face and stroke my head. It made me smile, yes. She was still my mother. Charles Xavier looked at us with a patronizing smile, I rolled my eyes at him and this seemed to amuse him even more.

This guy...

"Okay. Mom, dad, what I am about to tell you happened when I was ten years old, and it all began when Annie Richardson was hit by a car."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

_It was when I was eight years old, if I remember it right when I noticed that I was different and in the Marvel universe and that my hair color, full name and early life weren't just happenstance and that I panicked about the dire destiny awaiting me. It was when I heard about Steve Rogers, Captain America in the history books. As I was a particularly knowledgeable individual in my past life about Marvel comics and its derivative media -Yes, I was a geek- I began to really take care of my friend Annie._

_Annie Richardson was my best friend, she was a sweet and rambunctious girl that I had to steer clear from mischief. Knowing her fate, I couldn't just let that happen even if I didn't get powers. She was my first friend, a sister._

_This was my first mistake, assuming that I could change Annie's fate. This is where the Marvel universe showed its cruelty by opening its maw and taking her from me. We were ten years old, when we were playing with a soccer ball; Annie was a really athletic girl and as I couldn't control her spunky attitude, I allowed her at least that, she had an outgoing personality and you couldn't tell her no with her mastery of the puppy eyes fu. Even as I tried to be careful with everything that car still reaped her life, and as she bled internally I felt her life fading… her mind slip away._

_The universe taught me a lesson this day: some things cannot be changed. This event awakened my latent telepathic powers._

_After that I had withdrawn, hiding myself in my room, I didn't go to school, I barely ate and worse people's mental voices were invading my every waking moment. I even felt my mother's thoughts while having sex with Dad and it wasn't pleasant…_

_This couldn't go on, I needed to take control. I used a combination of meditation and the method of loci to be able to shut the voices off. I compartmentalized my powers and with enough information and imagination I took control of my telepathy, well not easily… At first, I had imagined a house, my house to lock up my powers and stop them from picking up thoughts._

_It was in vain._

_I discovered that you couldn't turn off telepathy the hard way; it was when I discovered that I had no friends around me beside my parents. Kids in primary school were the cruellest beings that I have ever met, they were often insensitive and egotistical to a horrible degree._

_In their minds, the girls Annie and I were friends with thought that I was making her death all about me. They couldn't understand or refused to comprehend that I was mourning the loss of my best friend. My anger caused me to lash out when Betty Olsen visited me and ended up in a coma for a week after I lashed out at her with a psionic blast._

_This horrified me and I withdrew from myself even more. It was another two days before I revised the model of my mind palace after watching Star Trek the Next Generation and turned it into a model of the Enterprise-D._

_I had a forcefield around my mind, but could still receive thoughts passively and actively with the antenna, communicate, or attack with the ship weapons to devastating effects. I am not proud of this period of my life as I tested my powers on animals, birds, rats and annoying squirrels._

_With this model in place my life became easier, but it did change._

_I no longer had any friends, the dire reality of having telepathy is knowing when people have opinions bad or good about you, or want something from or want to use you. Having telepathy made me more jaded and cynical and it became difficult for me to ever trust people._

_When I caught sight of Nathaniel Essex or more commonly known as Mister Sinister creeping upon me one week later I knew I was in deep; his thoughts were shielded, as soon as our gaze crossed he attempted to invade my mind but my shield held under his assault. In this monster's expression I saw that he didn't have any good intentions toward me. I escaped him by running into a public place where he couldn't get me without attracting attention to himself of course._

_We looked at each other for a while, before he left by smiling and tipping his hat to me. I knew he wasn't done with me, I stayed in the mall for a longtime, till dark in fact as I was scared out of my mind._

_But this second event caused me to revise everything I knew about the Marvel universe and more precisely about Jean Grey's life._

_This was a reality check, I couldn't just coast through life anymore. The universe was out to get me, and I couldn't be on the defensive or stuck reacting._

# # #

**Annandale-on-Hudson**  
**New York**  
**1996**

"And that is how I got my powers." I said sadly.

I didn't like the fact that I had to tell half truths, I didn't tell them about having memories of another life where I knew they were characters of a story, or about Mister Sinister. Though I saw that Xavier detected that I censored most of what happened; cunning baldie...

Mom, held me tighter. "It happened because of Annie."

"You couldn't do…" Her Father, John said in a little voice.

"I know Dad. Intellectually I know there's nothing I could've done to save Annie's life. I was just a kid, I am still a kid." I chuckled derisively.

This wasn't the first time I recriminated myself about what happened, if I had recognized in which universe I was earlier this may not have happened, or it would have happened later if I had prevented it. Death would have intervened in the process knowing her obsession with paperwork; see, the universe worked on paperwork, each death generated one, and those who try to become immortal or try to lengthen their lifespan always end up on Death's shit list.

How can you escape her if you aren't a sorcerer or Celestial? Well, one day I will be able to tell Death that I didn't like how she did her job.

"Jean, I want to be sure. Are you truly not interested in joining the Institute?" Xavier intervened, annoyingly disturbing the moment I was having with my parents.

But I had to be more mature about this, the Jean part of me wanted nothing to do with Baldy the mind rapist; but the other me who joined consciousness with her and knew all about that nice little reality Jean lived in knew that in the Xavier Institute there were people there that could help in the cause I was going to champion.

I didn't intend to stay in my cushy life doing nothing while the world burned around me. People needed to be called out on their bullshit after all.

So, with honesty I said to Xavier what I wanted to do. "Not right now, I have things to do. But once I am done, I am going to visit your institute and see if it's not like I thought and then I might join."

"Might I ask what those things might be?" He asked, curious.

Was it worry that I sensed in his tone? I knew that Xavier didn't entirely focus on his telepathy to do things, he was a decent psychologist and he might be superficially psychoanalyzing me since he met me. It made me chuckle, he might have thought to find a wounded waif of a girl unable to control her powers that he could save and make her indebted to him; just like in the original timeline.

But fuck that! I am not a victim, and I don't wish to have that guy in my head patronizing me. I saw Xavier more like a Dove of peace, someone who is unable to make the right decision to achieve his goals.

He was the antithesis of Magneto. Oh, I had a plan for old bucket-head.

I straightened my position on the Sofa, but Mom wouldn't let go of me… as if afraid to do so. I put a hand on her arm and sent soothing warmth into her mind, telling her that whatever happens I am not going anywhere.

After smiling at Mom, I turned to the Professor and said, "That's for me to know, and for you to learn later."

Xavier looked really disappointed, but at least he did something about his trust me field. My shields were raised at their highest setting and I will never let them down in his presence. Xavier was almost my match after all and he knew tricks I didn't yet.

"Very well, your father has my number and when you are able, you can join us and the others." Xavier put his hand on his armrest and nodded to me, maybe he was sure that I would change my mind after seeing the others or use group mentality to pressure me. Humans were gullible creatures, easily manipulated.

"Yes Professor, I can't say it was nice to meet you, but I hope our next meeting will not be like this one." I stood up and came up to him to shake his hand.

**Adieu and while we are being nice I will give you a warning, the next time you try that shit with me, I will vaporize you.** I threatened while smiling.

"I wish you a safe trip professor, and please tell Ororo and Sage that I send them my regards." My parting words were sweet and belied the subtle threat that I just dropped on him, after all Sage was one of his most intimate secrets.

He looked utterly terrified when he left and wheeled away from my house while I waved at him. Ok, now that this threat was gone I needed to speak with Mom and Dad about mutant things and what I want to do in the future. Closing the door of the house, I sighed as I saw the uncertain looks of Dad and Mom; they felt afraid, and even though they loved me to bits they didn't know what the future entailed.

Putting on a serious expression I said, "Mom, Dad. We need to talk."

Crossing my arms I gazed at them, but Dad broke the atmosphere as usual with levity. "Oh, no, it's never good when a woman says that."

Despite me I snorted in hilarity. Dad, John smiled at me, happy to have made me laugh; Mom just rolled her eyes and slapped his arm. I was sixteen years old now, but I never thought that my dad's jokes were cringey.

"Dear be serious." She told him.

"He is right Mom." I giggled. "But we are going to speak about this over dinner! So Mom, come help, we are doing lasagnas tonight."

And we did just that in our modern kitchen with an island and all appliances, I was glad that I offered to do this as it calmed Mom down at the same time. I was cleaning the pots when we finished making the lasagnas and Dad put out a wine bottle in ice. As I am a good girl I made the table and served food to my parents and then after two wine glasses I began to speak business.

"Now that we are all at ease, Mom, Dad; we need to speak about what I call my life project." I said leaning in my seat, replete with food. I was a glutton, but I didn't allow myself to get fat as I exercised every morning before going to school since I knew what was awaiting me in the future.

"We are listening." Mom narrowed her green eyes and straightened her glasses on her nose.

It made me nervous, Mom wasn't too open minded. But love wins all, right? My hands were visibly shaking, I was scared, scared that they would reject me. After all, plenty of mutants get thrown on the street just because they are different.

It took me one minute to calm down, my parents looked worried about what I was going to say. I felt it from their emotion, it radiated from them almost endlessly. But I took my courage in my hands, I couldn't just stop talking right now.

"Well," I began to say. "I don't know if you are going to like it but first we need to speak about what a mutant is, as this is what the world will classify me as and about what I predict will happen in the far future."

I recognize that this has never been done in the original comics and other earth in the marvel multiverse; Jean's parents only learn later that she is a mutant.

"So, Dad, Mom a mutant is someone who has a genetic mutation called an X-Gene that causes his or her body to develop abilities that regular humans are unable to. The majority of mutants develop these abilities, which vary from person to person, usually upon puberty, though there are some mutants who display powers or physical mutations from birth, or in their twenties. Some mutants even display abilities from within the womb and posthumously."

Those were all facts I collated from the weirdly detailed information from my otherself's memory. So being a mutant was genetic and the human race would sooner or later be full of them.

"That's what the world and those dumb scientists who found out about it call people like me. You might not know it but the government is already aware of them and… let's say that they intern them to study them or enslave them." I grabbed the alcohol in my wine glass with my mind and made the liquid slowly come out of it and float around me.

Mom and Dad looked at the floating liquid with transfixed eyes, until I made it go back in the wine glass and drank it in one gulp.

"Jean how do you know this? Is it true?" Mom asked looking at me now.

Just like I predicted, she was even more afraid, putting the glass on the table near me I said, "Mom, my superpowers are all about reading thoughts, feelings, emotions and moving things with my mind. So yeah, I am sure of what I say. Do the math, there are a lot of mutants out there."

*Hmm… I need a better name for powered people, mutants make us seem like we are monsters or something. Another thing to add on the list.*

Did she ever use her ability on me? Mom thought.

Dad felt concerned all of a sudden. Jean has changed that much? What if… she did bad things with her power?

The thought coming from Mom and Dad kind of shocked me, how could they even think that I would try to use my abilities on them? This was… not just ethically bad but you didn't do this to family, ever! Mom voiced her fearful thought and said, "Did you ever use…"

But I interrupted her.

"Mom, sometimes I just can't help hearing things if you shout things in your mind, just like you thinking that I would ever try to read your thoughts consciously! You are my Mom! Your mind is your own and I respect you too much."

"Then, Jean what about people who want to hurt you?" Dad asked me, as if he didn't already know the answer to that.

I didn't go out of my way to kill or mess around in people's heads; but it seems that my ability to tap into the Astral Plane like all the other telepaths made me more receptive to the intentions of people. I knew when someone didn't have my best interest in mind or wanted to hurt me physically or mentally.

My gaze speared Dad as I said, "Do you want the truth or me to lie, Dad, for your good conscience?"

I closed my eyes and massaged my temples in frustration. Then bluntly I said, "Dad did you know that Mister Brugaher was a child Molester? Or that Mrs Fuller killed her mother for her inheritance?"

This complete switch of topic had two goals, show Dad that this world was dangerous and that I only used my power to protect myself. Well, for now.

"I-" Dad tried to say, ashamed and disgusted by my revelations.

Yes, I actively bored into those people's minds as mister Brugaher was eyeing me when I was eleven. It's on him that I tested how to control and reprogram people's thoughts on him as I didn't consider the man human anymore because of his vice. I basically neutered him mentally, he couldn't get it up or feel attraction.

"Jean that's enough we understand, you have a right to defend yourself." Mom said, she was almost crying.

"I am sorry, I didn't want to shock you. But Dad seriously, would you refuse me the right to keep myself safe? These powers were given to me at birth, they are like a tool, a natural ability and extension of my mind and there's nothing I can do about turning them off. Telepathy doesn't work like that. I almost went mad you know? When they first activated, I was hearing everyone around me. Everyone." My parents went silent at that, yes I almost went bonkers; and I was not sure that I was totally sane either. I could be… let's say a little meaner than before.

I hugged them all mentally and they stopped as I made them feel how much I loved and respected them, that I will always be there for them. After this, Mom calmed down and I felt this feeling of acceptance from them that made my heart melt and tear up a bit.

After dinner we all went into the living room and watched a family movie, Independence Day. I always thought that Will Smith was sexy, and my Mom was of the same opinion as we were all speaking mentally about everything while still watching the movie. This was the best family talk I have ever had, I regret not doing it sooner as they were not afraid of my powers anymore.

I will protect them, I couldn't let anything happen to them; and for that I must kill all of my enemies, and unfortunately, the Marvel universe was full of them.

After the movie we all went to prepare for bed, after taking a shower and brushing my teeth I went to sleep still thinking about my confrontation with Charles Xavier and the use of his powers. He taught me how to use the Trust me field that I planned to abuse with people I didn't care for. Tomorrow, school would be wildly different.

# # #

After this night of revelation and family time, I woke up on my bed staring at the white plaster ceiling of my bedroom, still thinking about what needed to change. The time was 5:00 AM, my usual time of awakening; my thought detection field didn't detect anyone coming in the house. Sinister's agents have been trying to get genetic materials from me for a while, but I have been torturing them and turning them into vegetables each time I found them roaming around in my one kilometer psychic field around the house. Even if they succeeded in entering the house, I always vaporized any traces of DNA in the house since I learned this handy telekinetic trick. Though he has resorted to placing bugs around.

The guy was tenacious and didn't give up, he really wanted his super mutant Summers and I was supposed to make him if we married, huh.

There was no way it would happen, not with me, not in this dimension. I am no broodmare.

Something needed to change, I couldn't stay on the defensive forever. It was time to take this danger seriously.

I needed to know how to fight without my powers, and train the use of said powers too to see what I am really able to do; still, my time will dwindle even more because of it. I know of several people that could teach me martial art and how to better use my telekinesis by copying their knowledge, and skills. I only recently discovered that I was able to replicate the learned knowledge and skills of others. My telepathy gave me the ability to quickly process, store, or download information through mine or another's mind.

My best chance to learn decent martial art is to find Matt Murdock and his girlfriend Elektra, and fortunately for me I already knew where they were. Matt Murdock worked out in his law firm out of Hell's Kitchen and I was sure that he was still dating Elektra.

So, I got up from bed using my power to levitate the cover sheet and do my bed almost instantly. Once satisfied I nodded and yawned, then I walked to my bathroom. After doing my business, I put on light clothing including my tight blue jeans ripped at the knee, converse sneakers, AC/DC sweatshirt and opened shirt. After all it was September and still rather warm. I took care not to get any metal on me for you know who to grab me if he ever came to me. After this I went to make breakfast for everyone.

For an hour I spent the time cooking waffles without too much sugar since my father had a cholesterol problem, as well as toasts, sausages, coffee and orange juice. While doing so I thought about the things I needed to do today: go to school, test the trust me field, go train this new power configuration I thought about and later this night try to find Matt Murdock.

Easy, right? Maybe I should just shut up and go do it.

Dad and Mom slowly woke up, I felt their mind awoken through my Thought detection field, ten minutes later they stumbled in the kitchen while mumbling "Coffee."

I made the warm cups of coffee fly in their hands and they were so half asleep that they didn't give me looks at the usage of power.

"Hi Dad, Mom. Good morning." I said as I placed the dish full of breakfast food.

Mom waved at me while Dad blew on his coffee, it put a smile on my face to see them like this after staying up late watching a movie.

"I'm going to school in one hour; Dad, I think I don't need the car anymore." I announced, yes I wanted to use my telekinetic stealth. I made my hand disappear as I completely surrounded myself by a field of telekinetic energy and bent the light around me. I had this idea when I watched Star Wars two night ago; Jedi were able to do that Jedi Force Cloak thingy, and as I got similar ability as the force user, why not try to emulate them.

Mom was awake now and watched my arm missing a hand with her mouth agape, it made me quickly undo it.

*She did it again, I think I need to come to term that Jeany isn't normal and never will be...* Mom thought, it made me chuckle.

I will need to teach them how to shield their thoughts one day.

"What?" Dad was finally awake, and I repeated what I told him.

"I can just fly there." I assured him by levitating, a scarlet red aura surrounded me and my feet left the ground. I levitated one meter from the ground.

I loved to fly and it has become my favorite way of travel; I discovered telekinetic flight when I almost fell down the stairs of the house in my hurry to not be late for school. Since then I have been testing at night how fast and how high I could go. Well let's say that I was really near Mach one in speed, I needed to train more with it. I was going for a superboy type of build for my powers, and let people think that Telekinesis is my main power. I am not about to scream on all the roofs that I can manipulate minds…

Dad narrowed his eyes at me, he shook his head and said, "No, you'll go there by car like usual. You need normalcy, Jeany. You are not defined by your powers, ok?"

We looked at each other, and I saw that he didn't want me to use my abilities in plain view like this. Dad felt fiercely protective toward me, it must have been because I told what the government does with Mutants, he didn't want to see me enslaved or as a lab experiment.

I brushed his mind by giving him a mental hug, he smiled at me knowing that he won.

"Ok, ok." I said, as I rolled my eyes.

Another set of plans going down the drain, fine. The plan I had to fly everywhere and use my abilities to constantly work on my stamina and strength. Using their powers for mutants was often draining if they didn't train.

It was already 07:30 when breakfast concluded, and Dad watched me leave with my Chevrolet Camaro Z28 that he bought me three months ago. It was a muscle car and to my other self it was an ancient as the Earth she came from was more advanced. I was still waiting for the Cellular phone advent; I switched gear and sped to Midtown High School.

It was an excellent way to test my perception of my surroundings thanks to my telekinesis. Everyday was an occasion for me to train and learn and I didn't mind that, I would rest when my enemies were buried and… I enjoyed studying their use at the same time. There was so much I could do with my mental powers.

When I arrived at the school's parking lot fifteen minutes later, I wasn't surprised to attract the same looks of envy and hear the assholish thoughts of the teenage girls when I parked my car. Some of the guys waited for me to get out of the car and salivate at my appearance. I am not vain but I consider myself attractive, I have long red hair, green eyes, I was tall one meter seventy centimeter and my body was straddling the line between fit and curvy.

The boys lusted after me, but I wasn't interested in them. I was there to study, not make friends. However, my standoffish behavior has caused me to be labelled the bitch of Midtown High; it didn't make it better that the teaching staff loved me and that I was smart. Some cheerleaders loved to call me mockingly miss perfect for some reasons. I was an outcast but sometimes it was tiring.

Maybe I should change that? I knew that Peter Parker and Jessica Jones were in this school, could I befriend them?

*Later.* I said to myself.

Speaking of the devil, Peter Parker passed me and ran to his locker; some dumb guy tried to trip him as he passed but the cutie ignored him and agilely dodged his leg. What was this guy's name already? Flashy Flash? Oh, yeah. Flash Thompson, I saw him in the first spiderman movies.

Flash was an attractive boy, with blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair; clearly a jock from the red and white blazer he wore and the tall muscular form of his body. In the movies he loved to bully Peter Parker for no reasons I could remember. The dumb jock didn't like that his prank didn't work and tried to grab Peter but I made him stumble by tripping him with my TK.

Everyone laughed at him when he fell like a tree, Liz Allan, his girlfriend looked at him with disgusted eyes and Marie Jane Watson giggled at his trouble. What good friends…

Yep, that's why I don't socialize, everyone was fair game in this school.

As I passed Flash, I snorted and said, "Pathetic."

Flash looked up and I saw rage in his eyes, but I just smiled sardonically at him and went my way to the part of the hallway with my locker. Through my empathy I could still feel rage, anger and feelings of inadequacies rolling in waves from the jock. Maybe I added oil to the fire. I shrugged, this was his own problem. This Flashy guy needed to stop antagonizing Peter, from how he moved it was clear that the cutie was already spider bit.

*Wait! What about Cindy Moon? She's my locker buddy, I hope she wasn't kidnapped.* I told myself as I walked faster.

Ah phew yes she was here, Cindy Moon was of asian descent, brown eyes, black hair and of taller height than me; she was a really athletic girl. And as I probed her mind I saw that she was spider bite free, this meant that if she wasn't bitten, then I am not the Jean from Earth 616 and that this dimension had another number and I didn't know which one. In a sense I was relieved, this was a big burden! The Jean from there had it rough.

So I couldn't entirely rely on my comic book knowledge of the marvel universe if I didn't know which Earth I lived on. But did it truly matter? When I get the Phoenix Force I will be able to go from reality to reality.

"Hi, Cindy." I said as nonchalantly as possible.

Cindy was a really active girl, always doing something and she was really smart. She wore a cropped top, jacket and jeans with ankle boots; her lithe frame showcased her outfit. The young woman looked at me, beamed a smile and closed her locker and said, "Hello Jean. Are you finally going to try out for hockey?"

My mood sank, why did this girl always want to get me to join her sporting activities? "I don't have the time Cin…" I told her, for real I didn't.

"We could hang out more this way, you know." The girl took my hands in hers, tilted her head cutely made puppy eyes at me.

Tssk, the bleeding heart and lonely part of me really wanted to take her on her offer. Some people wanted to be friends with me, but Annie's death was still kinda raw and getting people close this way again? Maybe I should give it a try and if it doesn't work for me I will leave.

"Okay, I might join but weren't the tryouts already concluded, Cindy?" I thought that the team was already full. Weirdly, we got a good Hockey team, another difference in the dimensions, they piled up today!

"You are in luck. I spoke about you to the coach and he is going to give you a chance. I saw you in Gym… you have perfect balance and have good reflex." She said.

*Finally I'm going to get Jean to join the team! This girl is attractive and she's got such a nice ass.* The asian girl gushed mentally.

Ok… another difference with the comic book knowledge, the Cindy in this Earth might be lesbian. But I appreciated the attention, I was Bi after all. I brushed her arm with mine to test this theory and she looked at me, then smiled.

*I-is she interested?* Cindy thought startled.

Through my empathy I could tell that there was hope leaking from her; looking from head to toe at the attractive teen, I told myself, why not? She was my kind of girl after all.

"Hey would you want to hang out some other time?" I asked bluntly, subtly caressing her hand and using my telepathy to make everyone ignore us.

The asian girl smiled at me dashingly and after we secretly exchanged phone numbers that Cindy gave me we began to converse about what we liked, about school and sports until the bell signalling that class started rang.

Later, Homeroom started and I put my homework on the table and consulted the science essay that I wrote. We were studying mitosis, a type of cell division that results in two daughter cells each having the same number and kind of chromosomes as the parent nucleus, typical of ordinary tissue growth. This! This was the door to longevity if each time the cells divided perfectly without getting damaged we could become immortal.

It was fascinating and I just couldn't wait to learn more about it. I wanted to study DNA, become a scientist.

We had science class after this, we had Mrs Daphne Smith one of my favorite teachers as she made everything interesting! Peter Parker was in my class and as I looked at him he was listening avidly and taking notes when the teacher spoke or explained things. Today we learned about mitochondria, an organelle found in large numbers in most cells, in which the biochemical processes of respiration and energy production occur. It has a double membrane, the inner layer being folded inward to form layers.

I couldn't wait to just see all those information on Wikipedia when the Internet will really take off. I felt like I was in the dark age without a cell phone or internet and a big computer. I had to make do with TV and books! Pollution was everywhere and there were a lot of things happening that I wish I could change. I liked humanity, but I wasn't blind to their flaws thanks to my other self guiding me.

Time passed and we were already at lunch time, I looked at the table in the cafeteria and looked for Peter Parker. He was alone on a table far from the other ones with all the different cliques. Taking my courage in my hand I went up to him and sat at Peter Parker's table.

He immediately looked at me.

I waved at him and with my most beautiful smile said, "Hi, there. Can I sit with you?"

Like a deer in the headlights, Peter looked uncertain. "Hum…"

"I promise I am not going to bite." I said, as I continued to smile.

"Okay." He said as he nodded and took a bite of his sandwich.

I sat and placed my backpack at my side as the table was kind of empty, I took out the tupperware box with my lunch in it. Yeah, there was no way I was going to eat the yucky food from the cafeteria. Lasagna from last night with a water bottle, this was everything I needed. Taking my fork I began to primly eat the delicious food I had cooked the previous night with my Mom.

"So Peter, I am Jean Grey."

He looked at me, "I know who you are, you are the smartest girl in this school after Gwen Stacy."

"Oh, he speaks!" It made me giggle.

He rolled his eyes and took another bite of his sandwich. The guy wanted to be left alone it seems, I felt this dark cloud hovering in his mind. There was tons of grief, guilt and self loathing. I knew the only reason for him to feel this way was because he lost someone dear to him.

"I am sorry for your uncle." I said.

He kept looking as if I was surprising him each time.

"How do you know?" There was a threatening tone in his voice.

"Because I care, and you feel responsible for his death." I said.

I felt a flash of anger coming from him through my empathy. "You know nothing, don't bother me anymore." He said and rose from his seat and left.

Well it could have gone better, I guess? Fortunately no one saw this scene as I had cloaked the both of us in a bubble of what I call ignore field. Something that I had a bad time using in duo with the trust me field that I saw Charles Xavier use. I continued to eat and rehashed the conversation with Peter in my mind. So I came on too strong huh?

After this debacle, I went to brush my teeth in the Lady's restroom and enabled my trust me field. What wasn't my surprise to find three girls surrounding one brown haired mousy girl with glasses. I cocked my head, she looked cute. Decision, decision; do I help her? As usual the choice was taken away from me.

"Hey what'chu lookin' at?" It was a black girl who said that.

I didn't know her, but she looked like one of those reject gangsta girls from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Long curly hair, milk chocolate skin, athletic and clothed in pink t-shirt, jacket and black pants. The others with her had short tops, skirts and jeans with the same kind of jacket as she.

Rolling my eyes and putting a hand on my hip I said provocatively, "Seriously, you are going with that cliché shit? Why don't you leave this girl alone?"

"Mind your own business!" One of the girls shouted.

It made me laugh at her, why were bullies so predictable? I had no intention of getting with them as they weren't worth it. From my standpoint I could see who they really were thanks to my telepathy; they were petty, vain and troubled. Making others suffer to forget the problems they have at home. I didn't feel like talking more to them.

I narrowed my eyes and with perfect diction I said, "I told you to leave her alone, now." I pushed the suggestion in their mind.

Pushing. This was the ability to implant memories, thoughts, and emotions into others, it wasn't something I was proud of doing, but sometimes it was warranted when I wanted to not be hindered by anyone or to avoid losers like those three girls.

To pacify me the girl raised her hands and said, "Hum, ok. We will leave Sharon alone now."

I smirked at her, "Great, now get out."

They filed out of the toilet, one of them even sneered at me; but stopped when I narrowed my eyes. They do know who is the most dangerous it seems. Their victim, Sharon looked at me with big eyes and tried to speak to me. Sharon was a brunette, and had blue eyes. She wore a sweatshirt, jeans and boots; her big glasses let me know that she was nearsighted.

She was such a shy girl. "You can go too, be careful with them. I don't think they will ever want to stop next time."

"Thank you." She mouthed.

I smiled at her and said while waving, "You're welcome."

I hated bullies, and I knew that sometimes they too needed help. But making others suffer for your own problems was too petty and showed how much a coward you were.

After brushing my teeth I participated in the last class of the day, French two. I didn't want to show that I already spoke the language thanks to my power, with telepathy it is possible for me to understand all languages. This was a cheat and it kinda made learning anything normal to me.

I passed the time reading the students' surface thoughts, some despaired in never understanding French or any other languages, some didn't even care and communicated via notes and gossip. High School was a weird place where everyone didn't understand that this was an important moment of their lives. Reputation, and who slept with who wasn't important.

Once class was done I got out of here, went to my locker and wasn't surprised to find that someone was already trying to hinder me. Flash Thompson was there waiting for me.

"Great." I whispered.

I walked up to my locker and tried to bypass him but he slammed his hand on my locker and glared at me.

"So Grey, who is pathetic again?" The blonde boy said as he grit his teeth.

His entire body stance and mind showed to me that he was ready to slap me if I didn't apologize. It made me laugh at his face. "The fact that you are here shows it to me, loser. Why don't you go back to your sissy friends to feel strong?"

"Bit-"

I put my hand on his cheek and mind walked into his head; there weren't a lot of things in here, mainly girls and football oh and a shitty home life. His Dad was an alcoholic. How sad, not really. I pushed instructions into his mind and told him to fight his father and to not abuse others if it wasn't warranted. But I decided to go farther and to make him face his inner good, in a mental struggle. Time passed fast into the astral realm and while young Flash was busy seeing everything bad he did and put into the shoes of his victims.

I hoped that this guy redeemed himself thanks to this Lightside view in his own head. Placing my book in my locker, I slammed it shut and looked at my side as Flash was standing there with glassy eyes.

"Bye bye Flashy." I said and turned heel.

Someone was bound to wake him up, but he will be a different person at this point. Walking down the aisle I thought about what I just did; I basically pushed three girls and rewrote a personality today and hoped this wasn't going to become a trend. I was out in the parking lot, and went up to my car.

*Where's Flash?*

*Didn't he go deal with Grey?*

*The bitch is here, look; Flash didn't do anything?*

I heard the mind voices of the football guys who are friends with Flash, turning to four different boys behind me I glared at them. Making them stop to look at me, weirded out by the situation. Taking my keys, I opened my car door and climbed aboard my vehicle. As usual I put my seatbelt and pre-checked everything and my vehicle roared as I turned the key.

In thirty second I was out of the parking as the school buses and everyone else already left. I really liked to drive, I loved fast cars and powerful motorcycles; I hoped to have one of those. I passed before the four stories school building and momentarily caught sight of Jessica Jones. She looked alone and I stopped the car and honked and shouted "Jessica!"

She looked at me and made a gesture to her to come here. Miraculously, she did. Jessica had pink dyed hair, brown eyes and wore a black t-shirt and jeans.

"Grey, is that you?" Her voice seemed uncertain.

Everyone knew what my car looked like and my hair color was pretty distinctive. I was popular but not in a good way, was it what's called notoriety?

"Please climb in, Jess." I asked her.

"Hum…" She hesitated.

We were never friends, but we knew each other as we were the two biggest loners there with Peter Parker.

"Please we need to talk. I know about your powers." I said bluntly what I knew. I hope it wasn't a mistake.

She stepped back from the car with surprise etched on her face. "What?"

"I know you can fly and that you are super strong." I listed her powers.

"You are crazy." She averted her eyes, but in her mind she was panicking and almost fled but I pushed hard with the trust me field.

"We are the same," I added and I lifted her backpack with my TK before her eyes. "I have powers too, and I feel that if I don't help you, you are bound to do something bad in the long term."

"Bad?" There were a lot of memories flashed through her brain, her parents dying, the orphanage and the people trying to bully her.

I sent a soothing feeling through her and she calmed down. Continuing to push I told her, "Yeah, please I… I need a friend. Someone like me, and you are the only one at school who I can speak to."

It seems that the trust me field got through to her as she climbed in the car with her backpack. I started the car and I drove in silence until we reached Honey Field. I stopped the car and went out of it, Jessica followed me and I found my usual bench near the baseball field.

"How do you know?" Jessica asked as she sat at my side.

"I could lie to you and tell you that I saw you fly when Peter and you had this altercation. But I will be straight with you, Jess. I am a telepath and telekinetic." To prove to her what I revealed I lifted from the bench with the force of will surrounded by a red haze of psionic energy.

Jessica looked at me in amazement and frowned a bit and her mind screamed with the fact that I was also a telepath, a mind reader.

I began to say, "I'm a telepath yes. I can read minds and…"

Jessica caught me by the collar and lifted me as easily as a dirty cloth basket, she looked furious, "Don't ever read my mind again, you get it?"

I laughed at her spunk and surrounded myself in a telekinetic energy field and made her unhand me. I was basically mimicking super strength while enhancing my physical strength with psionic energy and news flash, I was stronger than Jessica Jones.

She looked at me with frightened eyes as I showed her who was the strongest of us two.

"Jess, if you ask nicely I won't ever do it again… but you must also take into account how telepathy works." I explained. "It's always on." I tapped my head with my index. "and when people who don't know how to shield their mind say their secrets as if they shouted, I can't help to hear it. For example, I discovered what you could do when you thought about how you flew in the sky and bench pressed a van."

Surprisingly, she looked sheepish when I told her that. It was also an effect of the trust me field that she was believing me. No wonder everyone listened to what Xavier said.

"Sorry." Jessica said.

I waved her off, but I still straightened my clothes while she looked down on the ground. "Well, it's ok. You had a right to be angry, your mind is sacred. But you must know, I don't want to read your thoughts. If you want I can teach you how to shield."

She looked at me startled. "You would do that?"

I nodded. "Sure, I am super happy to have found someone like me. I want to be friends with you Jess. "

I held my hand to Jessica who looked at it, then my eyes; something warred in her, she was afraid but also filled with hope. After five seconds she took my hand in hers and said, "friends."

"You won't regret this Jessica!" I said while slapping her shoulder lightly.

She smiled at me, "Ok, Grey."

She was still calling me by my surname.

"Jean, my name is Jean." I insisted.

"Jean, it's going to take time to get used to it."

I noticed that it was kind of late and I had to bring Jessica back to her home, and this was the least I could do after taking so much of her time. We even exchanged phone numbers, and I invited her to come this Saturday to test our powers in the junkyard. I promised to come get her tomorrow for school, I couldn't wait. This was a great day and the start of a new friendship.


	3. Chapter 3

Usual disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or any of their characters. (Not rich enough anyway)

* * *

Chapter 2

Annandale-on-Hudson  
Grey House

When I got back home it was with a smile on my face. For once something went right in my life! I made a friend and maybe an ally in my quest for freedom and equality. Life was going to be difficult from now on, as Sinister or Magneto might come to get me at any point; it meant that I needed all the training I could stomach.

I have an Omega power level but no experience in how to unleash it safely; yes, I had ideas but it's through trials and errors that I've succeeded in controlling the meager power I already mastered. There was so much power under the mental lid I have constructed that I didn't dare to tap into. *Note to self, go to a deserted mountain somewhere and see what I can truly do.*

Before going into my bedroom I did the usual scan of my neighborhood to know if another unforeseen variable presented itself. I wouldn't put it past Sinister to try to plant another spy while I am overwise busy.

*Mom is here and watching her Spanish telenovelas.* (soap opera in English), it was called Marimar and those have been a sensation lately in the US.

*Hmm, ok, I will finish my homework and then go to prepare to look for Matty.* I planned.

"Mom, I'm home!" I shouted while still on the porch.

I opened the door giving a view of the stairs leading to the second floor and put my bag on the first step and went to the living room. Mom was watching TV and at the same time folding clothes mechanically. That's what I call housewife skills! She could do three things at the same time.

She wore a white top, a blue cardigan the same color as her eyes with a black jeans; I always found it refreshing that my mother was surprisingly into what I think would be futuristic fashion. She's also a good seamstress.

My mother, Elaine, turned her head toward me and smiled briefly before returning to watching her mexican soap opera on the ninety centimeter screen. I walked up to her, sat at her side and kissed her on the cheek and began to systematically fold clothes with her and place them into a wicker basket. Those were dad's shirts and pants, she had evidently triaged them beforehand.

We finished the folding when the episode ended and mom thanked me for the help and went to prepare dinner; quickly I skedaddled, taking my bag from the stairs and levitating up them. My bedroom was the second door on the right, near the laundry room and the bathroom. I opened my door with a thought and landed on my feet.

"French and Biology, let's go." I said to myself as I threw my backpack into the air, making it levitate and opening it to let its contents float out around me, putting the books necessary for doing my homework on my desk.

I sat in front of my desk, with a pen and some paper in hand. I wanted to be done with my homework and then do some chores, go have dinner while watching a rerun of Knight Rider, then let my parents go to sleep. I needed to go to Hell's Kitchen tonight and see if Daredevil was patrolling. I've been hearing rumors... about a devil in that city block, now it's time to see which kind of Matt Murdock was in this dimension.

It took me three hours to be done with my homework. I found genetics interesting; as it was the source of my current and future problems, I wanted to be good at it to be able to educate the masses later.

"Jean, dinner is ready!" Mom roughly knocked on my door making me jump, I didn't detect her coming as all my attention was on my school work.

When I looked at the time, I saw that it was already 07:00 PM.

That wasn't good, I deployed my awareness all around me to see if others had also used this time to sneak into the neighborhood. The usual people were present and going through their business and life. I abruptly increased the range from another kilometer and I felt a bleep on my mental detection grid, it was an unfamiliar mind. I didn't like that, while standing up from my chair and opening the door to my bedroom with telekinesis I kept tabs on the stranger's mind.

I focused on the woman who entered my mental detection sphere, because yes, the mind was female. She had a certain way of thinking about her: she was worried about stealth, completing her mission and had a series of objectives in mind to do so. I didn't know if she was hostile but I kept a mind's eye on her while still going through the motions.

Through my spatial awareness I didn't even hit anything on the way, meaning there were no doors or people in the way. I passed the doors of the game room and bathroom and levitated down the stairs. Mom with her blonde hair and blue eyes was there at the bottom of them, frowning as she said, "Walk Jeany, walk. No levitation at home unless it's an emergency."

"Fine." I said raising my hands to placate her.

She was satisfied only when my feet touched the ground and pulled me to the dining room. Did I forget to say that mom and dad were overprotective? Yeah, it's easy to guess when they still treat me as if I am a little girl or something. Even though mentally I was older than them. My disinterest in playing or just acting like the teens of my age must have been what worried them and forced them to call on Xavier.

And I thought that everything was going well. Mom sat me at the table and I tried to help set up the table but she told me to relax for once and did it herself.

I loved helping them, but from what I could feel from my parents they wanted me to let my hair down. They must still be bothered by last night's discussion. I scowled at the choice of color for the table decoration; the pink tablecloth that she chose to drape on the table made me have conniptions, this was one of the points of contention we had.

Meanwhile, I still kept an eye on the spy who stopped two blocks from our house. And… Frowning, I focused on her thoughts and memories.

*Oh, I see what she's doing, this isn't about me, but about the brain dead people that have been recovered from time to time in the neighborhood. That's my fault, they were Sinister's agents and I dispatched them. I should have thought about this before, next time I will have to atomize their bodies. And Neuralyze any witnesses.* I was able to use an ability that I'd developed that I called Neuralyzer; called after the device from the Men in Black comics, the Neuralizer; in the MIB comics it had the ability to wipe the mind of anybody who saw the flash.

Once people were neuralized, they seem to enter a trance, freeze and their eyes lose focus. Once victims are neuralized, the agents must make up a story to replace the victims' erased memories. My powers can mimic the same effects, though I can also scramble brains or erase memories and turn people into vegetables.

It hadn't been an easy ability to master, and at first it had taken it out of me as I hadn't been used to manipulating my powers like that. Sifting through memories wasn't an exact science, you needed to know what to look for and either repress the memory or erase it. Depending on the amount of people like two or three, I could do it without tiring myself. But anymore and I would get as exhausted as if I'd run a marathon. Effing baldie made it look easy in the movies.

Mom grabbed my attention when she brought two covered bowls on a tray and placed them in the middle of the table. As my mother uncovered the bowls, wafts of delicious smells filled the air. Tonight's meal was simpler than last night's: this time it was rice salad with tuna.

Dad put two bottles on the table, one was water and the other was wine. We had two different kinds of glasses near our plates, I poured the contents of the water bottle into my normal glass and then we began to eat with gusto. That rice salad with mom's secret sauce? It was too delicious.

While eating I spoke about my day to my parents. "I made a friend today. Her name is Jessica Jones, she colored her hair pink, she's quite pretty." I said with a grin.

I continued to chew on my food while looking for their reactions; Dad had his fork midway to his mouth and mom looked shocked. Their eyes shone with happiness and their elation was clear with my empathic power active.

*She got a friend!* Mom thought, with an expression of pleasant surprise.

Dad slapped the table while laughing. *We need to celebrate.*

"You two are quite rude, you know." I said with a pout.

Mom and Dad laughed at my expense. They didn't even get weird looks when they realized I had heard their thoughts. They just continued to smile at me. This was acceptance, I had it here with my parents, it warmed my heart.

Mom put a hand on mine and said, "Understand us, Jeany. You have been quite asocial since elementary school…"

I thought about this, and she was right, I stopped trusting kids my age since they started ignoring me after my breakdown about Annie's death. Being a telepath wasn't always rosy, I knew when people had ulterior motives or wanted to hurt me. At school and outside the house I always adopted a threatening stance, ready for an attack, whether physical or mental.

*It's not paranoia if they are really out to get you.* I thought in my heart.

Looking sheepish, I said, "I can't deny that…" Then with a bright smile and after flipping my hair back I continued to say, "but Jess is special. She's a bit like me, a loner. But I understand why… kids at school are mean and downright rude to her and it's without taking into account that her parents died and she was placed in an orphanage by CPS."

I intended to change that, fortunately, she didn't like Peter Parker in this dimension, in the main reality 616, the spiderboy was her first crush.

Mom put a hand on her heart, shocked. "The poor dear!"

My mother sat straight in her chair, and began to think. "Why don't you invite her to come over, you must introduce this young woman to us."

I wasn't surprised, she had a good heart and maybe having Jess here sometimes would be good. Mom wanted to help her, now I knew where I got my helping people thing. "Sure I will."

"Was she adopted?" My dad asked as he put his fork on his plate.

I nodded. "Yeah, I think so, otherwise she wouldn't be at Midtown High."

"True." Dad grunted and went back to eating.

Mom and I did the same and we finished our meal on more inane conversations. Then we went to watch the news on our big television. I kept getting weird flashes of deja vu as I knew some of the events already happening all around the world, but there were marked differences, like the Iraqi disarmament crisis. In my other self's original reality Iraq refused to let the UN inspectors access a number of sites and the US failed in its attempt to build support for military action against Iraq in the UN Security Council.

In this reality they had nothing to hide and had respected the terms of the disarmament. The news still spoke about the situation even weeks after, doing follow ups on them. Something really important was going on too, Tupac Shakur survived being shot while attending a boxing match in Las Vegas; yet again, in the other reality he clearly died.

*A sure sign that I can't always rely on my knowledge of the events from the other reality and about the Marvel Universe.* I thought as I nestled against my mother a bit more, she hugged me and stroked my red hair.

After this revelation, I went to do the dishes and my parents went to get ready for bed. I had a plan for tonight and I followed the progress of mom and dad while cleaning the kitchen and dining room. I checked the time on my watch.

09:57 PM.

*They are going to go to sleep soon, they always do after their showers.* I thought.

As I finished my chores, I walked up the stairs and went into my bedroom; it was my turn to use the shower in my own bathroom. I took off the outfit I was wearing and caught a towel from one of the shelves of my wardrobe. I stopped before the mirror and looked at the reflection of my naked form.

Sixteen years and I was still finding a stranger looking back at me. I had green eyes and long red hair that reached the middle of my back, no freckles, unblemished pale skin; I have ample breasts, and as I held onto them I smiled as I found them firm and splendid. A toned body that showed that I took care of myself. I mean come on, I have abs!

Shaking my head, I remembered what my other self had looked like; she had been completely different in ethnicity and nationality. She had been French with clear caramel skin and with a penchant for african braids, brown eyes and she had been shorter than I was with smaller breasts but wider hips. She had had a kid that she missed terribly at the moment.

Closing my eyes, I saw her in my mind's eye smiling upon me. She was me, and I was her; the disapproving look on her face made me chuckle. She was now reminding me that she had come to terms with it, it had been sixteen years, after all.

Smiling, I shrugged and my reflection mimicked me. It took thirty minutes, but I cleaned myself thoroughly and after that, I dried my hair with the blow dryer. Having long hair was a chore, but I would be damned if I ever cut it. I mean it was an iconic red mane, in the comics and movies I was always shown with long hair, well… the dumb movies with Hugh Jackman didn't count.

"Damn, I should go check to see if he looks like the one in the movies. If he is, I'm totally going to have him." I said out loud.

I thought about those rock hard muscles and tall frame… *Yum.*

Blushing, I stopped myself from thinking about sex. Well, I was sixteen, full of hormones and jailbait. Let's put that plan on the back burner. Once done with drying my hair I combed and brushed it. Looking toward the door, I felt someone coming. It was mom.

My mother knocked on the door. "Jeany, time to go to sleep."

"Lemme brush my teeth and I will." I shouted at the door.

"Don't tarry, then. Good night honey." She said and I felt her leaving, she was going to have sex with dad… they were really sexually active as a couple.

"Good night mom." I answered, shouting again.

I glared at the toothbrush in the white porcelain cup, and it floated toward me as well as the toothpaste; expertly, I used my TK to put the paste on the brush and I took the tool in my hand and began to brush. Every day I trained in the control of my powers, I hoped one day that I wouldn't need the mental lid I placed on them anymore.

I barely used two percent of it and it could make me levitate or evaporate water. At first I was scared by how much psionic power this little body of mine contained and could potentially wield. When I had been thirteen it had suddenly manifested when I had thrown a tennis ball at my wall and the ball had been stopped in midair, as I had tried to take it, the ball had been vaporized.

My life had been hell for the first two weeks as I had experimented to try to control it and then I had thought about this show that my other self had seen before her death called My Hero Academia. The MC stupidly used his new power as an all or nothing move when he should have tried to make it part of himself. And when he started training to make it so, he saw that his current body and mentality didn't permit him to use all of his power.

I had done the same as him and had seen at which point it had been safe to use my powers. I had worked really hard to be at the point where I was right now. Before it had been half of a percent, barely enough to bend spoons like in The Matrix. But now that I was sixteen and after daily meditation sessions and taking care of my body I was confident in using ten percent safely. Experience, this was what I needed and was sorely lacking.

With ten percent power I could use my power to mimic superboy's. By imbuing myself with psionic energy I dramatically enhanced my body, that meant that I had super agility, reflexes, durability, a large boost in my senses, Wonder Woman levels of speed and strength; let's not talk about the force-field, flight and TK armor -a sort of dermal armor like a kryptonian- and TK pressure.

No wonder, I could beat Jessica Jones, though she was still a baby in the use of her powers too. Though… I hated the way Marvel showed how Jean Grey used her powers. I mean, I was an effing omega level mutant with two of the best super powers: telepathy and TK (Telekinesis).

*Well, scratch that I am super.* I laughed while still having toothpaste on my teeth.

Three minutes later I was done.

Smiling, I used my TK to levitate and looked at the wet floor, I narrowed my eyes focusing on it and excited the water molecules by making them vibrate. The water evaporated in an instant. With a smile and a grin I did the same with the water on my body. There was a brief cloud of vapor but it wasn't scalding or anything.

Going through the door after using my powers to open it. The house was silent and I felt no one in the corridor. Quickly, I was out of the bathroom and through the door of my bedroom facing it. I closed the door with the rise of an eyebrow.

I turned the light on and looked for anything amiss. My seismic sense deployed and only registered the movement of insects in the walls. I would have to warn dad about that, they might be due to a visit from the exterminator.

Taking my time I chose the clothes in which I would be going out tonight; in my wardrobe I found a black hoodie with an oversized hood, the decal on the front of it was of a yellow and orange firebird. It was perfect so I threw it on the bed. Crouching to access my panty drawer I pulled on it and began to look for something that wasn't lacy or white; I hit the jackpot when I found feminine black boxer shorts.

*Hmm, I will need more of these in the near future. They are super practical.* I thought as I pawed those and stood up to put them on.

I followed my instincts and took a black sports bra from the drawer reserved for those and put it on too. Now, I had to find the perfect pants; five minutes later I did, they were well hidden in my dresser. I remembered buying this pair of high waisted faux leather pants in January. As I put them on, my reflection in the wardrobe mirror's showed why she hid them, they looked practically painted on.

*It seems that mom doesn't want me to look too… appealing to men.* I thought.

Before putting my hoodie on, I decided to add a layer of clothes and took a long sleeved tight grey yoga shirt with a zipper neckline. Then I put my hoodie on.

Tilting my head, my reflection showed me that the costume lacked something. I thought for a little while and then I got it, and walked up to my bed and knelt. I took a white box from under the bed and removed the lid. There was a pair of metal tipped calf high black combat boots. I bought them last summer and had forgotten about them until now.

"Perfect." I said as I sat on my bed to put them on.

Finally, I was through with outfitting myself, I focused on my seismic sense and my passive mental detection. My parents were still at it, having sex like rabbits. I didn't want to get caught when I was sneaking out, so I leaned on my bed and focused on the white ceiling, then on my Britney Spears and Mariah Carey posters. I liked those two, maybe I would find a way for Britney to not go off the deep end this time if I had enough power to do so.

Content with that thought I looked at my two bookshelves, they were bursting with books. The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and a lot of fantasy novels had found their way onto the right one; then there were books like Dune and novels based on Star Wars and Star Trek, most of Heinlein's books were present too.

Though weirdly, I hadn't found some authors that my other self had had in her own reality. I shrugged and thought about the technology that I knew would be out there; though I noticed Earth in the Marvel universe was strangely ahead compared the vanilla one my other self was from.

There was already talk about making DVD players, more powerful computers than before; I gleaned this by sifting through the surface minds of the nerds at my usual table. My thoughts kept going everywhere until they settled on the woman spying on my neighborhood.

*When I get out of here, I'm going to check what she's about and who she works for.* I told myself.

It was thirty minutes later when my parents were done, I didn't begrudge them their sex life but they certainly were... healthy. Their minds felt rapturous as well as exhausted to me and they began to feel somnolent.

*Finally.* I raised my hands into the air and I sat up on my bed and put my booted feet on the ground.

I was tempted to help them along to find sleep, but I didn't. I was never going to use my powers that way on my parents. Looking at the time on my alarm clock on the white-colored nightstand.

10:35 PM.

Well ok, it was time to go.

I stood up from my bed and levitated off the floor, silently opened my door and I was out of my bedroom. There was no way I was sneaking out through one of the front windows of the house. Two of them were in my bedroom. I went down the stairs, and deftly felt around me with my spatial sense. I passed the dining room and living room to end up in the kitchen.

I almost hit the breakfast table, thank god I didn't; mom had sharp ears. Floating silently, I finally reached the door leading to the patio and the back garden. Feeling around with my mental detection I found no one looking in my direction or the back of the house.

I force cloaked and became invisible, and after letting my psionic energy fill my body I looked at the sky and jumped, flying into the air.

**# # #**

I didn't know what to think, SHIELD was onto me. SHIELD! That woman, Katherine Shane was an agent sent to investigate the weird occurrences happening in Annandale-on-Hudson. I really hadn't been careful enough and they were going to find me.

It had been easy to swoop in from the sky, immobilize the agent in her car and put her to sleep by pushing a suggestion into her mind. Then I promptly began to surf through her memories; her training with SHIELD, meeting the big poobah Nick Fury who looked just like Samuel L. Jackson, and more prominently Phil Coulson. Her Partner.

"I didn't expect that." I said out loud.

Taking more specific information from her mind, I now knew her serial number in her organization, that her clearance level was four in the agency, where the effing Helicarrier was located. Letting go of her head and looking at the sky I asked myself what I was doing. I was barely sixteen years old and…

I got an idea. Staring at the woman, I began grinning like a loon and thanked ol' Nick for this gift. I put a hand on Katherine's forehead and I focused. I copied all her knowledge and skills, combat training, weapon training, paramilitary and spy training, science, languages (French, Russian, Japanese and Chinese), even information about the current military and organized crimes that Agent Shane could access with her clearance level.

The sudden headache hit me like a truck, it was time to stop. There was only so much that I could copy and paste from her mind to mine, this was one of the biggest weaknesses of the power known as knowledge replication. Feeling the information I absorbed being assimilated into my memories and trying to adapt to my young body I asked myself if this was going to become a trend.

*Yes. I will do anything to survive.* I looked at the woman and adjusted her car seat.

It gave the impression that she took a nap, then I began to look at the memories she had from the last five minutes and neuralyzed her. I leaned toward her and said through the car window, "You feel tired and you feel that casing the neighborhood is a waste of time. You'll ask someone to replace you as you don't want to do such grunt work again."

In Agent Shane's mind I saw how she conveniently changed part of her own memory to fit the scenario I just gave her. It was pretty funny to see how the human mind worked, they could talk themselves into things to avoid the dire reality of their situation.

Satisfied with my work, I took my hand away and closed the automatic windows. At least she wouldn't catch a cold or something. Seeing a SHIELD agent in the flesh had shaken me to my core, I didn't want to face Nicholas Fury this early in the game; I knew that sooner or later he would know about me, but this was just too soon.

*Why did they send someone with her clearance level to do such a low brow mission, anyway?* I asked myself.

I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth, I accepted the easy training and needed to move on. Now I knew that some of my decisions were quite ill advised. I was not going to school by flying now, they had radars that could detect my flight and observers; though flying at night was ok if I didn't go faster than 400 km/h and flew really low.

My feet left the ground, I stopped climbing into the air at 100 meters in elevation, then followed Ravinewalk street, passed Tewksbury Hall at great speed and was now flying over Annandale road. For over twenty minutes I followed route eighty-seven and signs on the road until I reached George Washington Bridge and had finally arrived in Manhattan.

Manhattan, an iconic city if I say so myself. Home of heroes and the economic pulse of the USA. Soon, I would have a place here; a base of operations or… several of them, why keep all my eggs only in one location?

Whatever, I needed money now. And I wasn't going to steal the money of honest people by robbing banks, if I was going to steal money I would do it to the people already doing the stealing and trafficking death and misery.

I flew over the Hudson river, not bothering doing it over the bridge. *After all, who knows what kind of device Shield has here to look for people like me?* I stopped cold in the air at that thought. Where had it come from? Oh my god, had I caught paranoia too when I had siphoned Agent Shane? I wouldn't have thought of that before.

In my mind, I saw that I was still assimilating her experiences, knowledge and skills but it was gradually sipping into me and changing my way of thinking. *So, I must be careful with what knowledge I replicate. Live and learn, they said, there are always cons to awesome abilities.*

Shrugging I started to fly toward Hell's Kitchen, deciding to follow the Hudson, the speed at which I was flying created waves as I flew only five meters above the water. The landmarks were easy to follow in the sea of concrete and buildings, I passed West Harlem and then at Manhattan valley I decided to stop using the river to hide my trail.

Veering right I flew over a rather well lit tennis court and landed amongst trees, there was a parkway before me. There were still people on the streets, Manhattan never slept and fortunately for me I was still in force cloak mode, invisible to their eyes and other senses. Looking for signs to orient myself I read that I was on the Henry Hudson parkway, there was one sign that showed where to go to arrive at Hell's Kitchen. I continued to follow the parkway from the air until I reached a bifurcation.

I had to go low enough to look for the signs with the directions on them. I needed an effing GPS, you know what? If I can't have them 'till 2008, I'm just gonna invent them! *Woe is me, stuck in the medieval era…* I said in derision.

I rose higher into the air and behind the forest of buildings I could see a lot of greenery. Following sixty-sixth street, I flew toward it, at high speed and found myself in Central Park. It was big and beautiful under the moonlight and it was an easy to follow landmark.

Backtracking, I ended up on ninth avenue and continued to fly slowly. Reaching Hell's Kitchen was anticlimactic, until it wasn't as I saw a couple being taken in an alley between a restaurant and a cafe by a group of three people.

*Seriously?* I slowed my flight and landed on the ground and ran at a jog into the alley, not breaking my invisibility.

*I just arrived and there's already a situation, so they were right in that novel wearing the cape, powered people attract trouble.* I clicked my tongue.

"Please just take my wallet and let us go." I heard the baritone voice of the man in the beige trench coat say.

The couple was surrounded by three thugs, strangely they seemed to be the winners of the cliché ethnicity gangbangers. One was black, another white and the last latino. They wore hoodies or jackets with pants so loose that I could see their boxers; what was more prominent was their golden pleated bling hanging from their necks or wrists.

I didn't like that, even if they looked ridiculous they were a danger, the latino guy had an evil grin splattered on his face as he held them at gunpoint. As I looked at the weapon I surprised myself as information trickled through my head as I recognized it. *Glock 19 Semi-Auto Pistol.*

Well, it seemed that agent Shane's knowledge was coming in handy already. More information changed how I was seeing this mugging that was happening.

There were at least ten meters between the two buildings forming the alleys, the black thug was blocking the alley and the white one was squirming around, looking panicked at the couple and at his buddy with the gun. *Latino guy did this before from the cruel emotions and psychopathic vibe I feel from him, he gets off from the pain of people richer than him. The white guy must be new to their group and already pissing his pants as he realized that he was hanging with the wrong crowd. Black guy with all the chains and gold in his mouth was as twisted as the latino guy, they have been doing this for a long time.*

I didn't do anything yet, and just kept listening in. But I already knew that two of the thugs weren't leaving this poorly lit and piss smelling alley alive tonight.

Latino guy laughed, his laugh was annoying, it was like he was braying like an ass.

"We ain't doin' dis for da money, bro." He said with a grin while he pointed his weapon at the well built and dark haired man, under his trench coat he wore a black smoking.

*He must have been at a party or something.* I told myself.

"What do you want?!" The trench coat wearing guy asked, looking at the latino guy who held the gun.

Latino guy turned his head toward the wife, and gazed at her with lust filled eyes. Empathically I felt as if tongues were licking me everywhere. *YUCK.*

"Yah got a pretty wife." He finally said.

I didn't like where this was going, but I kinda agreed with him. The woman had an hourglass figure, long black hair and the prettiest sky blue eyes that I'd ever seen, let's not speak about her red pouty lips. She wore a pink conservative dress covered by a short open red trench coat. Her jewelry was sapphire and pearl, matching with her skin tone and eyes.

The black guy laughed at his buddy but carefully groped his crotch, he fondled his tool through his pants while thinking of the fun he would have raping the white bitch. This was word for word what he thought.

I felt impatience coming from the black guy. "Lopez, just kill the man, I want to have a go at her!"

The trench coat guy was looking for a way out and placed himself between his wife and them.

"Guys, we shouldn't be doing this." White guy with a conscience weakly said.

As I read his mind, I saw that he just wanted to play tough gangsta guy like in the video clip he watched on TV. Another guy who thought that rappers and their culture were harmless, I felt that he was barely older than me and just a poor bastard that continued to make bad choices. This was surely a turning point in his life.

The woman began to cry, she begged, "P-please don't do this, w-we have a son at home."

Latino guy eyes' lit at that new knowledge and said. "Don't worry, darlin' we will visit him at your home too."

*Ok, that's it he is dead now.* I said as I walked up to him.

That was the final stroke for trench coat guy, his face became dark and lunged at the latino thug with the gun who just smiled and avoided him and fired his gun in the direction of the wife. I chose this moment to intervene and saved the woman by putting a force-field between her and the bullet destined to lodge itself in her heart. I angled the field so that the ricochet reached the black guy blocking the way to the other end of the alley.

He took the bullet in the thigh, screamed in agony and was on the ground, Latino guy widened his eyes and emptied the weapon clip by shooting repeatedly at the pink dressed woman but the force-field still held on. The woman stood frozen, not understanding what was happening. I ran at super speed and jumped at him, performing a drop kick that caught latino guy in the back of his neck. With a loud sickening crunch, I saw the armed guy fly toward the wife but he was stopped by my force-field, loudly crunched against it and ended up on the ground.

I looked at the white guy who peed his pants, and made him sleep by pushing suggestions in his mind, he fell onto the ground like a bag of potatoes, fainting. Letting go of my invisibility, I was finally visible to everyone, trench coat guy and his wife stood frozen at my appearance.

Feeling the movement of Latino guy's hand, he was about to shoot his gun yet again at the pink dressed woman. With a cutting motion of my hand I severed his arm.

"You've been disarmed." I quipped, laughing.

The Latino guy looked at his arm and began screaming and screaming until I had enough and knocked him out with a light TK punch to the head. He had a broken spine and lost his arm, that was kind of gruesome.

I turned my head to look at the black guy nearest the pretty black haired woman who was still screaming at the top of his lungs too and his blood was flowing quickly out the bullet hole in his thigh, his artery must have been hit.

I didn't care if he died, but I put him to sleep too. Seeing his body slacken as if he had died made the woman look at all the downed guys with fear, then she looked at me. To her, I was the hooded and diminutive person who maimed and neutralized the threat… I wasn't surprised when she fell onto her knees and screamed. Or, when trench coat guy tried to attack me.

"Ole." I said while evading his charge by stepping aside on the right at the last moment, he had wanted to tackle me.

He stood up and tried to lunge at me again, he knew nothing about fighting, fortunately. I let him approach me and held my hand before me and he froze as I locked his movements with my TK. The man was still struggling.

"Why are you trying to attack someone who saved you?" I asked, a bit miffed.

My voice seemed to make him stop and think, "You… huh." He tried to say. I forgot that I was stopping him from moving his entire body, it meant his lips and tongue too.

*Silly me.* I smiled sheepishly and waved a hand at him for effect and he suddenly fell onto the dirty ground of the alley.

"Ah sorry, you can speak now." I said, embarrassed.

Being a hero wasn't as easy as I thought...

Eyes wide in astonishment, the trench coat man asked with a bit of fear in his voice, "How are you doing this?!"

I tilted my head. "Oh, I have powers."

The man didn't seem to believe me, I shrugged. He will learn that mutants exist sooner or later, let's not break his nice little world, yet.

Then I looked at his beautiful wife who was still having a panic attack. "Anyway, let's get you back to your wife. You can move now, c'mon go reassure her." I said, shooing him toward her.

The man walked awkwardly toward her until he saw her distressed and ran to her, embraced her and said, "Martha! Martha, it's ok, she's one of the good guys."

This comment made me raise eyebrows.

"Hey, I certainly am not a guy, mister!" I shouted sarcastically.

At my joke, Martha emerged from her panic filled mind and emitted bubbling laughter from her throat, tears streamed down her cheeks. It was relief, a very freeing emotion that I felt coming from her mind. This made me smile, it was proof that she was still alive; that she was going to bounce right back from this ordeal.

The man smiled as he hugged his wife tightly against him. "She's… funny as you can see."

Martha looked at him with tears and then held tightly onto him and said, "Thomas, l-l-let's go back home please."

I nodded at that. "You guys can go. I am going to take care of them. Go back to your son."

As I watched those monsters laying here on the ground, I wanted to vaporize these guys, but I wanted to make them suffer first. Diverse torture methods unloaded into my mind, *Agent Shane sure knew how to do her spy job.*

The trench coat guy, Thomas approached me with his wife holding tightly onto him. He was wary, but determined. That's what I felt about him. "Hum, what's your name?" He asked.

"Je-I mean I am Phoenix." I almost told him my real name!

I had to stop blundering like this, mistakes killed in this superhero gig. No telling people your real identity! I saw what happened to Peter Parker and every hero in Civil War from the Marvel comics. Their families and friends got dead really fast or kidnapped. I had too much to lose, and my parents' smiling faces flashed into my mind. I needed… scratch that, I had to become someone else, Phoenix.

"You sounds really young to be doing this… vigilante thing. How old are you?" Thomas asked me.

His face became serious, I felt the concern and the desire to help to steer me away from my decision of wanting to do something good and beat up bad guys, but I was also doing this to get better against the big threat out there and my freedom from Mr. Sinister's clutches.

*There's no better training than on the field, after all.*

The man wasn't a self-righteous prick, no he was doing that because he thought I was a young girl doing something dangerous that should go back home and be safe.

I smiled at him, he had good intentions, but I had to dissuade him from trying to change my decision. "I am in High-school." I simply said, I didn't want to give him any more information about me. "But does it truly matter? Tonight I saved your wife and you from a fate worse than death."

I knew that the Latino guy intended at first to shoot Thomas in the legs and let his black friend rape Martha while her husband watched.

Thomas stepped back, looking embarrassed and gulped before saying, "I am grateful, it's just…"

"You see me as a little girl playing a dangerous game?" I continued his thread of thought.

The man simply didn't know on which leg to stand on, being a telepath was like that, we were always a step ahead of people in a conversation as we knew what they thought about.

Thomas had a stubborn glint in his eyes, he didn't even try to hide his opinion and told me straight up. "Essentially, yes."

I walked up to him and put a finger on his chin and said, "Someone told me before, that with great power, comes great responsibility." I said confidently.

Blurring the air before me by making it vibrating with my TK, I took my hood off. We stared into each other's eyes for a long time, he was the first to break away from the staring contest.

Thomas sighed heavily, his shoulders sagging as he began to realize that he could do nothing to change my mind. As for Martha she barely spoke but she was of the same opinion as her husband. She wanted to thank me, but I still scared her. She hid behind Thomas when I smiled at her.

"Ok… ok, I-I understand. Please take this." Thomas took a card from the hidden pocket of his trench coat and held it to me.

I took it and read the name on the card.

Doctor Thomas Wayne.

My face whipped to his and now… now I saw who he was. *The fuck? What is Thomas Wayne doing here?!*

With a shy smile, the man said, "Phoenix, if you ever get hurt… well I know that you won't want to go to a hospital… look, if you are ever hurt just come see me at my clinic and I will take care of you, ok?"

*Oh gosh, he was so cute.* I turned my eyes to Martha. "Martha! I know why you married him! Never let him go, you hear me!"

The pink dressed woman smiled at that, despite herself. She tightened her hold on her husband's arm. "I never intend to!"

Thomas reddened at the exchange between us and shook his head.

"Good." I said, laughing. "Now get out of here, go back to your son, ok?"

They nodded. Thomas smiled at me and made a dorky salute. "Thank you, Phoenix. I hope to see you again."

"Bye bye." I waved at them.

Following their speedy walk to the end of the alley. Now that we were all alone I put my gaze on the three men. "Now, where were we?"

**# # #**

**(Matt Murdock)**

He had wanted to intervene to save the couple but at the last moment someone else took out each of the assailants. The young girl was preternaturally fast and strong and heavy handed; she broke the spine of the shooter and was letting the second one bleed to death. He didn't know how the third assailant was dealt with, she had just looked at him and he fainted?

As he crouched on the roof of the Ponche Taqueria restaurant he observed how this new player took care of the situation. He didn't like what he saw through his radar sense at all; excessive use of force, maiming. Though as she interacted with the couple she just saved he regained hope that what she did there was just inexperience rearing its head.

He watched this Phoenix girl, as she dubbed herself being thanked for what she did here, he shook his head at this. The couple left from the other end of the alley quickly moving away from his radar sense range. Matt refocused on Phoenix.

"Now, where were we?" He heard her say with a cold tone that sent a chill down his back.

*That's not good, is she going to…* He was about to drop down and stop her, but her unpredictability wasn't to be underestimated.

"Well I guess, white guy is gonna need to get out of here. He did try to defuse the situation." She said as she walked up to the other kid.

He saw her crouch down to the downed kid and slapped him repeatedly until he woke up. "What? Who?"

"Wakey, wakey." Phoenix said sweetly.

The kid backpedalled while still laying on the ground, his heart beating fast, he looked at the other downed guy and a stinky smell emitted from him. Matt rolled his eyes, the kid had just shat himself. To his superhuman sense of smell it was offensive.

"Oh God, please let me go. I didn't know those two were that crazy!" The kid babbled.

Matt waited for Phoenix to speak, he was ready to intervene at a moment's notice. He hoped she'd let the kid go. He saw her walking toward him again, crouching at his side and say, "I already intended to, don't worry. So what's your name?"

Gulping, the kid answered in a little voice. "Hank, my name's Hank."

"Well Hank, I want you to think carefully about what happened here today. Those guys behind me, they aren't people you want to hang out with. Had they succeeded, you'd be an accomplice to rape and murder, home invasion and killing a kid. Then you'd be in the deep end, either you'd have offed yourself or… adapted and become a monster like them."

Matt was surprised by the insight this girl had from the event happening here, now that she was speaking about it, it was plausible that the shooter would have done what he said and gone back to the couple's house and offed their kid.

Phoenix continued in a more forceful tone as she put a hand on his forehead, "I want you to go home, think really hard about what you want to do in life and be good and help the little people as much as you can. Though you can be a little bit selfish too."

Frowning, Matt didn't understand what was happening here; what she was demanding from the kid sounded strangely like… like a compulsion. There was no way the young man would-

"Yeah, I-I am going to do that." Matt was shocked that the kid didn't tell her to go to hell with her demands.

Phoenix took her hand from his forehead and the kid stood up, noticed his soiled jeans and grunted in disgust and with embarrassment ran in the opposite direction than the couple from earlier.

The young woman looked at the other kid go, the sudden change in her physical language alerted him that he had been a fool to believe that she was all kittens and rainbows as she walked purposefully toward the other two incapacited assailants. Matt chose this moment to drop down from the roof and slow his fall with his grapple staff. As he landed, he noticed that Phoenix had gone still.

"Ah, finally found you Daredevil. You are a hard man to get ahold to." She sounded happy to see him.

Matt didn't know how to think about that, this was the first time someone had sought him out. Normally it was him getting the drop on people, and beating them up. "Do we know each other?"

Phoenix shook her head. "No, I came to you looking for training. I am new at this vigilante thing." She said with uncertainty.

Matt had never set out to be a hero, he was forced into the role after saving Mickey from the Kingpin's goons. *For fuck sake, is she a groupy or something?*

"Girl…" Matt began to say.

Her stance became threatening. "My name is Phoenix." She said coldly.

Matt rolled his eyes. "Right, Phoenix. Why don't you go home? I will call the cops and take care of those guys…"

Phoenix laughed at him, a trilling sound that reminded him of a bird."I am not letting any of those guys leave this alley alive, Devil."

Matt felt anger oozing from her from what he even alluded to. "You shouldn't say things like that, you clearly aren't a murderer." he tried to defuse the situation.

It was strange to Matt when he felt her presence spread out around her to his radar sense, as if she could reach very far around herself. Before leaving, Stick, his master, had told him that other people with abilities existed and some were so powerful that even he couldn't hope to do anything against them.

"I killed my first enemy when I was barely twelve years old. It is too late to try to reason with me." The girl… no, Phoenix told him in a sad tone.

Listening to her voice and heartbeat, he realized that she wasn't lying. And it shocked him. Like him she seemed to have been a victim of circumstances and walked a different path than him. He refused to kill if it wasn't warranted, but killing two unconscious men? That was beyond the pale.

As if sensing this from him, Phoenix heaved a sigh and said with disappointment. "Well, I guess that's a doozy with seeking training with ya, Devil. I guess I will have to go to her then. Damn she's going to work me to the bone..."

And then at super speed she moved and upon arriving before the wounded man unconscious on the ground she raised a foot, about to crush his head.

"Don't!" Matt screamed as he lunged at her, but he was too late when he heard a loud crunch.

Matt couldn't believe it, she just killed that man without hesitation. He looked at her, she didn't laugh or gloat; she exuded calm, it wasn't the first time she had killed like she said. Twirling his staff he entered a combat stance, protecting the man behind him.

Seemingly reading his intention, Phoenix asked. "You really want to do this?"

To Matt, her stance changed, he noticed that she alternated between a beginner and a professional fighter intermittently. He didn't know what the deal was with this girl but he intended to stop her.

"You'll surrender yourself." Matt commanded.

She smiled, "Like hell. I always keep my promises, this murderer isn't going to see the light of day."

"You crippled him, isn't it enough?" Matt growled at her.

He was used to doing it himself, crippling his foes and going after hardened criminals to release his pent up feelings had become his anger management therapy. Matt wasn't going to let her go now.

"I could tell you that he has a large body count and has been doing this for a very long time; but you won't back off, right?" Phoenix said.

Matt shook his head. "I won't, killing isn't a solution"

"Sometimes, Devil. Killing is what they deserve and you are protecting a man who has…" Phoenix continued to speak but Matt didn't want to listen to her, so he lunged at her, while in midair he divided his staff into sticks and tried to knock her head but she avoided him by fleeing away from him with that unnatural speed of hers. Matt growled as he threw his stick at her and lunged back, Phoenix batted it away and met him halfway with an attempted jab to his face that he evaded.

Reeling back his stick, he used his other one to get her in her right flank, the two of them exchanged moves as if they were rehearsing a stunt fight. Matt discovered that she was reading him, but he didn't know how. Phoenix crouched and attempted to sweep his legs but Matt jumped, used his graphook to take him out of her reach and bounced off the wall behind her and used it like a trampoline to kick her in the back.

Phoenix saw him coming and stopping him in the air, he beat his feet but couldn't reach the ground. Not knowing what was happening he threw his stick at her with all his strength and got her in the head.

"Ouch." She cried out.

Matt fell on his feet and then charged at her and kicked her in the stomach, sending Phoenix flying. She rolled with the impact, stood up and launched herself at him executing a textbook hook kick. Matt tried to go low but something stopped him from doing so and she caught him square in the ribs and it was his turn to get sent flying and impact the wall.

Grunting in pain, he looked at her, but he didn't feel her coming to him. Just watching him, her heart beating wildly in her ribcage.

"You know as much as it's fun to fight you.. I have school tomorrow." She said conversationally.

Matt showed teeth. "You are not leaving." He said, angry.

He has been giving his all, but she didn't sound wounded or winded at all.

"There's something you should know about me, Devil. I don't need to be near an enemy to kill him." She said with a smile in her voice.

Matt heard the sound of an impact and a crunch, he looked at where the shooter had been and… in his radar sense the form that he was seeing didn't look human anymore. More like a meaty splatter on the ground.

"Later." Phoenix waved at him.

"Wait!" Matt bellowed.

Something he would have never believed seeing before happened, he saw Phoenix fly into the air, she kept rising without assistance. Greeting his teeth, Matt shot his grappling hook at her to try to keep her on the ground but she deflected it without even touching it.

"Bye Devil, we will see each other again." She said before she completely disappeared from his senses.

It seemed today was full of firsts for him, he had failed to bring in a budding murderer and met his first super powered teenager.

"How am I going to handle this?" Matt said aloud as he looked at the scene around him.

The smell of blood, piss and fear was prevalent in this new alley that saw the birth of a new vigilante. Someone not afraid to dirty her hands.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 3**

**Annandale-on-Hudson**  
**Grey House**

I was in a foul mood. I couldn't believe that my first sortie as Phoenix had an outcome like this; I saved the Waynes, only for Matt Murdock to swoop in and try talking me out from killing those... those monsters?

He was such a hypocrite! But whatever, I would continue to stomp out evil as much as I could; some monsters should be killed. I stopped this train of thought and reminded myself of this quote, 'He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you stare too long into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you.'

Nietzsche was onto something, The key word in the first sentence was 'fights.' When one fights, one often justifies one's actions by what it does to one's opponents. People who consider killing to be wrong are often willing to take a life in self-defense.

In practice, it is often very hard to stop undertaking these actions when the monster is gone. Considering the case of the warrior who has to come back to live in a society where the instincts that kept him alive for years now have disastrously unacceptable outcomes.

There is also the concern of the monster's perspective. Often the mere fact that you are fighting against them can make you a monster in their eyes. Then you have to consider all of these issues from their perspective. Suddenly they may be willing to kill in self-defense when they otherwise thought killing was wrong.

The abyss is a more difficult one to capture in words. If given a choice, I prefer to simply stare at the phrasing I already have: 'If you stare too long into the abyss, the abyss stares back at you.' At the very least, there is certainly a reflexive property to this action. You are staring at the abyss, presumably with the intent to understand it. This means you must be forming an image of the abyss in your mind. When it comes to concepts of emptiness, the image of emptiness is often indistinguishable from the emptiness itself.

I didn't take pleasure in killing those guys in the alleyway, but it sure felt right to crush them under my heels, like the evil cockroaches they were. Through my empathy they had radiated of so much evil that I irrationally wanted to destroy them at all costs so their stench and vileness would dissipate.

It was as if my empathic ability had linked with my sense of smell. Shaking my head, I let go of this image and looked under me. After twenty minutes of travel, I finally reached my town, my home visible to me.

*Home sweet home.*

Gradually lowering my elevation, I finally landed behind my home. I paused for a few beats, remaining in the same place so my mental detection could alert me if anyone in the house was awake. My parents were still blissfully asleep. I levitated from the ground, not wanting to leave any footprints on the lawn. Floating to the door, I opened it with my TK. Upon entering the house, I locked the backdoor. I was relieved to have washed my boots in the Hudson River, because imagine the rookie mistake of leaving bloody footprints leading to my bedroom? Surprisingly, thug blood and brain was hard to clean, and I had to scrape everything with TK. Floating up the stairs, I quickly reach my bedroom.

Letting out a sigh, I stripped out of my hoodie and yoga shirt, tossed aside my boots, and peeled the faux leather jeans from my legs. I looked at the time, 01:45 AM.

*Time to sleep then we will go jogging in four hours. I will sleep in history class I imagine.*

Not bothering to take off my underwear, I collapsed into my bed and closed my eyes. Sleep was quickly granted to me.

# # #

September, 8th 1996

The alarm blared, and blearily I opened my eyes and looked at the digital screen on it. It was 05:30.

Rising from bed, I rubbed my eyes and resisted giving in and going back to bed. It was difficult, but I found the willpower to get out of bed. I dropped on the ground and began to do some push-ups; thirty-one later I finally felt awake.

I stood up, crinkled my neck and went to look for my red tracksuit. Fortunately, mom cleaned it and as I put it on my stomach rumbled. Today, I was going to run, shower, and then make breakfast.

Red tracksuit on, I exited my bedroom, brushing my teeth in the bathroom as I began to investigate the state of the assimilation of agent Shane's knowledge and skills in my mind.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that everything was there. Now I knew Kravmaga, Jeet Kune Do, Tai-Chi, Judo and Aikido; there was a bit of Muay Thai in her martial skills too. Hhah, they were mine now! Agent Shane was an expert tactician, a hand-to-hand combatant and a secret agent; she knew how to infiltrate or exfiltrate places.

There were also skills that translated well with the knowledge replication, such as the Marksmanship expertise of the woman and the mastery of various other weapons. Maybe, just maybe I would get to use that one day.

Then I realized that I needed to train in everything for it to become like second nature. That's fine! Nothing worth having was easy to obtain. Though, now I have the skills necessary to defend myself, even if my power was being dampened.

And then, like a lightning rod, an idea hit me.

*Dampened?* Here was an idea that bode well with me. With my telepathy, I should be able to stop a mutant or another type of enhanced from accessing their power.

*Something to try later when I find someone like me.*

I simply couldn't do that to Jessica as her strength was innate. And we had a tentative friendship that would be ruined if I messed with her mind- even superficially. Leaving home, I found myself on the patio. I stepped onto the stone slabs leading to the garden where mom had her rose bushes. There was enough space here on the green lawn for me to begin my exercises.

Dropping in a prone position on the ground I began to do push-ups, and from the knowledge I stole from Agent Shane it tells me that I should be able to hold for two minutes. As I lowered and raised my body only using the strength of my arms I stopped boosting my body with my psionic energy. Immediately, the exercise became harder.

*Tactile TK is such a cheat, but if I can raise my base stats, how strong will I become?* I cheered myself as my arms shook after just fifty seconds.

Forcing myself I held on doing more push-ups for sixty seconds and then I fell face first onto the stone slabs. "Fuck."

With my arms feeling like jelly and the sweat already starting to flow down my back and forehead I continued the next exercise, abdominal endurance training or more commonly known as sit-ups. Urgh, Shane's knowledge was full of technical terms for everything that had more common names, I hoped that I wouldn't be speaking like that either. I lasted longer as I did them, one minutes and forty seconds; almost two minutes.

Standing up, I jogged on the pavement which bordered my house, following Annandale road as usual. Every two days, I went for a run in the early morning. I liked it here in my hometown, though the entirety of this hamlet consisted of the Bard College. When I passed my first kilometer I was already arriving at the copse of trees near the Chapel but it wasn't my stop.

Finally in view of my destination, I stopped at Elizabeth Stambler Garden and looked for the tree I used to practice my pull-ups. I caught the solid low branch and lifted myself doing pull-ups. My arms still burned from the earlier push-ups, but I pushed myself again for thirty seconds.

Then I fell on my butt as my hands let go of the solid branch. "Ouch."

"Becoming a badass is hard." I complained out loud.

I envisioned doing this exercise each morning, and stopping on the weekend. My goal was to reach the optimum human fitness at least on the level of my favorite superheroine, Natasha Romanov. Lifting off the grass, which cushioned my fall, I ran back out of the Garden, and ran for another mile at maximum speed towards my home. My eyes fell on the people already hard at work on the road, the street cleaners were organizing themselves to maintain the town, and other people were already leaving for work leaving their and boarding their cars.

Looking at my watch I see that it was already 06:20 AM.

I pushed myself further, as it was almost time for me to make breakfast. My mental detection field located a bunch of unfamiliar minds- all were sharp and focused. Finding the source, it seemed to be within a black nondescript surveillance truck. My new assimilated knowledge helped me recognize the type of plate they used. I didn't stop running, or it would raise suspicions. "SHIELD has more teams out in my town." I whispered.

I took extra care and caution tino making sure I wasn't being followed, and arrived at home quickly. I entered the house from the front, bowling over the door of the porch, I opened and closed it once inside. Panting heavily due to the severe exertion, I calmed down little by little and went on auto-pilot.

Using levitation, I landed in the short corridor to enter my bedroom. Peeling off my sweaty clothing, I tossed them into the dirty laundry basket, and immediately headed to the shower. Twenty minutes later, I was feeling thoroughly refreshed and clean, also mom and dad were awake and about to start the day.

Withdrawing from the bathroom, I began thinking of what this day held in store for me. *I'm going to see if I can take Jessica with me to the junkyard I located so we can test our powers and I'm going to try to locate my new sensei. She's hard to get ahold of.*

With my TK, I opted to dress in a black skirt, my red leather jacket and a white halter crop top from my wardrobe. I focused on my underwear drawers; after five minutes of making them float and orbite around me, I chose a sexy black lace underwire push up bra and black lace thong to match it. I slowly put them on and once I was done I looked at myself and appreciated the view.

*I look like one of those Victoria's Secret models.* I gushed.

I wished I had a camera to take my pic, because I need to see when I get ripped enough. Laughing, the rest of my underwear folded themselves and neatly arranged in my drawers, when I snapped my fingers.

Not wasting any time, I slipped into the black tights, and the clothing I had chosen. I examined myself in the mirror, noting that the outfit lacked something. Then, I saw what needed to be added.

Within the depths of my wardrobe, I sought for one of the belts I used when I accompanied my dad at his old college. It was adorned with a golden buckle. "Perfect." I admired, as I put the black leather belt on.

Making my red jacket float to me, I caught it, shrugging into it. I opened my wooden jewelry box on my dresser. Mom had gifted it to me, with it being full with old accessories and golden and silver jewelry that had been my granny's.

I grasped one of my favorites- a golden choker necklace in the form of a bird with a small chain. At the same time my hair was being combed and brushed with my TK into a middle parted long hairstyle. I took really good care of my hair with special natural hair product that I had to order from an Indian Cherokee shop.

*I would hate to see all this hair go.* I said to myself as I stroked it with a hand.

Finally ready for school, I opened my school bad with a nudge of my mind, all of my writing kits and notebooks flying into it. I walked over to it, and zipped it close. I checked my school ID and driver's licence, credit card and wallet. Assured everything was there, I switched off the lights and floated down to the first floor. "Jean, breakfast!" Mom called out. "I'm coming, mom!" I shouted back.

Landing on the ground, I strode to the kitchen, my eyes trailing on the breakfast table filled with enough food for five people. She was baking a cake at the moment, surely for when I got back from school this afternoon.

"You are already preparing everything." I commented, noticing the pitcher full of self-pressed orange juice, and plates of sausages and eggs.

Mom gave me her signature smile and flipped her blonde hair. "You need to go take your friend and the drive to Manhattan is two hours long. Don't worry about breakfast in the morning anymore, ok?

I was about to protest, arguing that I liked helping her. "But-"

But with a wave of her hand she commanded. "Sit, Jeany. And eat, because I know how hungry you get after going running."

"Fine…" I huffed, before my eyes focused on a plate she placed at the center of the table with the eggs and sausages. "Are those pancakes?!"

I quickly took a seat and mom stared at me, fondness shining in her eyes.

The pancakes were doused in maple syrup, and I found them tasting soft after hurrying to put them in my mouth. They were oh-so delicious. Eating four of them with a serving of sausage and eggs, I finished my breakfast in thirty minutes while discussing with dad about my future.

As I sipped some fruit juice, I pondered over it. "I want to study genetics, computer science and at least two different branches of engineering."

"Oh which ones?" Dad asked.

I placed my drink down, finally done. Checking the time it was 06:55 AM.

"Computer and Biomedical Engineering." I chirped.

Dad put his newspaper on the table and stared at me for a longtime. Then he began to laugh, "Is this part of your plan for the future, the one you told us about?"

Nodding, I continued to speak. "Yes, I plan to major in computer engineering and minor in bioengineering, comp sci and then genetics."

Dad didn't think I was being ridiculous, and knew if I chose those fields of study that I could really make something of myself. I smiled at him, and then he nodded back at me, took his newspaper back and said, "I believe in you."

There it was- the unconditional trust dad had in me. "Thanks. I love you Dad."

He peered at me from behind the newspaper. "I love you too sweetheart."

"Jean, time to leave! Don't forget to take your lunch!" Mom hollered from inside the kitchen.

"Okay!" I shouted back, took the red tupperware lunch box from the table and with a woosh I left at super speed.

# # #

Manhattan, Queens  
Forest Hills neighborhood

Finally parked in front of Jessica's home, I exited my car, closing the door quietly. Her home was two stories high, a brick house with a chimney, a beautiful garden surrounding the house and a vegetable garden on the right of the property.

I found it kind of idyllic. Seeing this little slice of paradise in the middle of an urban landscape was truly strange, as if the people living inside tried too hard to be perfect.

*Jessica must have it hard here.* I mused to myself. Nevertheless, I was now before the entrance door, rapping my fist against the door. I wasn't surprised to see a typical soccer mom standing on the other side of the door. Her brunette hair was luminous, and her blue eyes shone. She had an hourglass figure, and as she stared at me, there was an easy smile playing at her full lips. She wore a grey t-shirt and blue jeans with cute sandals.

As I stared at her, her smile widened."Hello, what can I do for you?" She greeted.

"Hi." I waved at the woman. "Hum, I came to take Jessica to school."

"Oh, you must be Jean Grey."

She was curious about me. As her eyes trailed over me, from head to toe, I knew she was already categorizing me into the trendy looking teenager girl box in her mind. She looks okay, not someone who looks like a bad influence, but I will still watch out for her. I heard her surface thoughts.

"That's me." I nodded.

For a minute, we remained silent, until she said, "Jessica spoke a lot about you, I am happy that she finally made a friend."

I smiled. "We have tons of things in common."

She returned my smile, flipping her hair. "I learned that you are just like her- a loner. I guess birds of a feather flock together. You seem to be a good girl, Jean. Take good care of Jessie."

In my heart, I cackled. Jessica's adoptive mother was a walking cliché. She had a gossip network, and she kept herself informed about things occuring in school. Was she that desperate to have control of her… daughters? There were two other female minds in the house- one felt like Jessica and I was clueless as to who the other was.

My smile intact, I bopped my head. "I intend to, ma'am."

She frowned at me calling her ma'am, as though she didn't like being referred to a term that symbolized old age. Seriously?

"Call me Alisa or Mrs Jones." I remember this name from the Marvel Database wiki. There wasn't a lot of info about her. But to keep giving the vain woman something to feel good about I complimented, "You have such a beautiful name."

"Oh my, thank you." She flushed.

*God, she's so predictable! I feel that she likes me a lot now.* Alisa liked to be admired. Since she couldn't have kids, she focused on her social career, striving to make people believe she was the perfect housewife. To show her generosity, and kindness, she adopted Jessica. Hearing footsteps nearing, a voice called out, "Mom, is it Jean?!"

The older woman pushed herself out of the way, and here came my new friend. She wore her usual black hoodie and blue skirt with ripped black tights and designer boots. The girl must not be aware of it but she did the same judgemental check Alisa Jones did to me. She must have liked what she saw as she said "Hi." and waved to me.

"Hi, Jess." I waved back.

I felt another mind coming behind Alisa and Jess. It was a younger girl, a redhead like me, with blue eyes and clothed more conservatively than Jessica. She wore black jeans, a grey top and a purple almost black jacket with her school bag. She looked… hopeful?

Jessica walked up to me, took my arm and whispered next to my ear, "I have bad news."

"Oh?" I already got the gist of it, from the pleading gaze the younger teen was giving me.

"My sister asked if she could come to school with us." Jessica said, she didn't sound happy about it.

"Damn." I whispered back.

I had hoped to speak to Jess about the Junkyard and how to develop a training regimen for herself. It had always hit me how lacking Jessica Jones was in the comics and netflix show. She was a diamond in the rough and, with decent training, she could be one of the strongest heroines in Marvel. In the show she was a drunk and seeing what happened throughout her history, I kind of understood why. Especially after knowing what that Purple guy put her through.

*But that's not going to happen on my watch. Some people in this universe deserve a happy ending and others a gruesome death.* I said to myself.

"What's her name?" I asked with mild annoyance.

Jessica chuckled at my attitude. "Patsy."

"What?!" I said as I looked at the other redhead with wide eyes.

Wow, wait wasn't Patsy supposed to be blonde or something? Oh yes, she's a redhead in the comic version! Patsy Walker aka Hellcat. This just became awesome, I met three heroes in a span of two days.

"Ok, we will take her with us." I said confidently.

"Ah, that's kind of you Jean." Alisa said all smile.

Through my empathy I felt the glow of love she felt for Patsy to who she hugged, and gave a big wet kiss on the cheek, pushed the other redhead on the porch and closed the door of the house. I felt that there was a bunch of favoritism there, the blonde soccer mom seemed to love Patsy more than Jessica. The pink haired punk rolled her eyes at her adoptive mother's shenanigans, took her adoptive sister by the arm and pulled her toward my Camaro.

I shrugged, *Well, Marvel seems to want me to speed up my plan and form a team.*

Walking towards my car, plans and schemes formed through my mind and adjusting the more variables were introduced. Jessica took shotgun, Patsy already seated at the back. Well, they sure were easygoing.

"C'mon Jean, don't be a slowpoke!" Jessica was bossy.

"I'm coming, you pink fairy!"Patsy giggled at that. She sure does look like one with her pink hair. I heard her say in her mind. It was a bubbling thought that she couldn't help but transmit to me.

Heading to the car, I started it once I eased myself in the driver's seat. "I feel the need for speed."

Jessica frowned and tried to say, "What-" But I sped like crazy to the school, the speed shutting her up.

# # #

Forest Hills  
Midtown High School

When we arrived at school it was just over 8 AM. I Parking in the car park, we exited. Patsy and Jessica were wide eyed, their hair in disarray.

"Girls, that won't do." I held out a hairbrush to them. Jessica almost tore my hand off as she snatched it. "That's your fault! Where did you learn to drive like that?"

That was a good question, but I couldn't just tell her that I absorbed the knowledge of a secret agent who was trained in evasive driving with Patsy listening in.

"It was like being on a rollercoaster." Patsy whined.

I felt bad now. "Aww, sorry I will drive slower next time."

The younger girl shook her head. "No that's fine! I really liked it!" She hid her face in her hands, but not her smile. Deep down, Patsy was an adrenaline junkie like me.

"Oh awesome. Another speed junky!" Jessica rolled her eyes, looking into a hand mirror as she ran the hair brush through her pink locks. It was funny, but I decided to go help Patsy with hers. She gladly accepted. I didn't know why she was so eager to become my friend but I felt her desperation. "Calm down, Pat." I told her as I styled her hair differently as fast as I could. She never realized that I used my TK to style her hair in a french braid.

"Here."

She looked at herself in the right side mirror of my car. "I like it!" She sent me a dazzling smile. I noticed that other students were focused on us, waiting to spy on me or admire me, upon coming with two other people. Normally I would ignore them, but they were having weird thoughts about Jessica and Patsy. Things like they didn't deserve to be seen with me or something along the same lines. I stared at them and reached for their minds and pushed in their mind that they don't want to mess with my friends, ever.

Their eyes went glassy eyed for one second, and then left. It put a smile on my face. We went into the school building, where there was a literal sea of students before us. Girls roamed in packs and boys being boys. Geeks were in herds for security in numbers; the jocks preyed upon them all the time to feel like they were badass. Patsy and Jessica locked step with me as we walked among the throng of students.

At the same time, I looked at the time on my wristwatch, noticing it was already 08:25 AM. I frowned, placing a hand on Patsy's shoulder. "Okay, Patsy it's time to go to class, you have five minutes to go take things in your locker."

The other redhead nodded and before leaving, asked, "I will see you later?"

Why was she so needy suddenly? "Of course. Girl I will get you back home, ok?"

"Sweet." She waved, before disappearing in the sea of teenagers.I walked up to the corridor where my locker was located, Jessica silently following; strangely her locker was near mine. In fact, I shared a corridor with Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker, and Jessica Jones. That was a weird set of coincidences. Entering the combination in my locker, I grabbed ahold of my history and french language books.

I had history with Jessica, along with chemistry and P.E.

"You like the kid?" Jessica asked randomly. I looked at her and there was some kind of vulnerability in her, a kind of flaw that shouldn't be there. To me, Jessica Jones was that tough chick with a saving people thing who fought her own demons everyday.

*However, she's not like that. Mentally she's still a kid, she has started to feel hardship when her parents and brother died and had to adjust to the family who adopted her.*

My hand rested against her cheek, and she flinched, almost stepping back but stopped, letting it rest there.

"As much as I like you, Jess." Then I remembered that I have plans for her. "Say are you free after school?" I asked nonchalantly.

Jessica frowned, taking my hand in her own. "Are you asking me out?"

I snorted. *Wow this was out of the blue even for her.* I knew she wasn't interested in girls, that's why I didn't come onto her. "Jess, you are gorgeous but you aren't my type. I'd prefer to have you as a friend."

She laughed at that, but then turned serious. "Hum… I heard you like asian girls."

My smile froze on my face and my eyes zeroed-in on Jessica who stepped back from the intensity of my gaze.

"Who said that?" I clipped, promising violence through my tone. Jessica raised her hands before herself to placate me, answering instantly. "Almost all the bitches at school who are jealous of you, and because they see you speak and get physical with Cindy Moon."

I heaved a sigh, fine. It wasn't as if my preferences where hard to divine... "Yes, I like girls and boys. And Cindy and another are on my list."

I caught no judgement or mocking thoughts from Jessica, and when she smiled I knew I made the right decision in befriending her. She was such a good kid at this age, too bad some didn't see it.

She arched an eyebrow. "The best of both worlds?"

I broke into a bout of laughter, lightly slapping her arm. "You preach it sister."

The bell rang, signalling classes had started. We were late. Looking at each other, we ran together to the room where we have history class.

# # #

History class was boring, some events where the same and others were different, though I didn't care about the class. The history teacher was an old guy who could make hysterical hyenas sleep. I took advantage of the two hours of class to refine the plan I had concerning university and my future business. I was aware that humans were too self centered to accept a new race of people among themselves from the goodness of their heart, so I intend to appeal to their greed.

The way to be always on top was to do this by becoming a symbol, I had ideas and the prescience to take advantage of everything in this era and the information I knew about the people in this universe. Technology was one of the game changers, then go on the same path as Magneto without relying on terrorism. All the future haters and intolerant bastards who were going to dehumanize mutant or powered people? I was going to bat them away with cold, hard scientific facts which would prove they were wrong, and portray them as the stupid bigots they were. tBesides that, I didn't like the term mutants. I needed a new name for my people. We were an emergent subrace from the human and we all had powers and an immune system that laughed at AIDS or HIV. I wrote in bold letters on my notebook 'Innovades'.

I saw it in a Gundam anime in my last life. In the show, Innovades are artificially made to exist as a space faring species. Through gene manipulation and nanomachines, Innovades are able to suppress their aging and can adapt into the harsh environment of space. *I am gonna use this word to name our race, it sounded more acceptable than mutant! We are not monsters, after all!*

But I needed to make some discoveries, and some money, before people would listen to me. I needed to be someone at the same level as Tony Stark or Hank Pym. My gender and my youth would be held against me, even though I would be bringing fresh ideas and innovations. Pym, for example is a misogynist and a bit crazy, Ultron's thought pattern show it as his personality is completely based on his. The old boy club of the engineers, I won't be able to join it, but I didn't care, what truly mattered were results.

*They will be brought to the future kicking and screaming.* I giggled to myself.

"Miss Grey, are you finding the birth of Communism in Russia in 1900 funny?" Mister Del, the teacher called out, putting a stop to my train of thought. Damn, you can't even plot world conquest without being interrupted by the peons.

"Yes, Mr. Del."

He sneered at me. "Could you tell us why?"

Through my empathy, I saw he looked down on me because I was young, beautiful and didn't follow his droning voice telling us facts more than genuine history. I hated the American school system. I didn't need to pay attention; everyone else was and the subject became clear to me.

Smiling, I stared in his double focals glass that made his black eyes look even bigger and said, "Of course, I find it funny that a system based on Marxism failed so completely. The Bolshevik party seized power during the Russian Revolution and created the Soviet Union; a super power led by a mad man who killed more people than even Hitler and is still lauded as a hero by all Russians even till now. People are really gullible."

Utter silence descended in the class. My classmates were eagerly waiting for Mister Del to correct me, and send me out of class for perturbing his class. But it was clearly not to be as the teacher blinked at me and mused, "Hum, yes. You clearly already know about the subject…"

Mister Del coughed twice, before resuming his quest to bore us to death. I snorted, and continued to plan. Through my seismic sense I felt something coming toward me, I grabbed it with my TK aura. I let my invisible arms land the object on my desk. I was surprised to see a folded piece of paper. I opened it and saw a note.

We didn't get to speak about what you wanted to do after school. - Jess

I smiled. Yes I have a plan with her. Instead of writing a note to send back, I focused on Jessica's mind. She was located at the back of the class near the closest glass so slowly I established a mental link between my mind and Jessica's. Now to speak with her, all I had to do is cross the bridge and speak to her.

Yes, I wanted to go training with you. Jessica flinched when she heard my voice in her head.

I felt her surprise, and panic. That wouldn't do. She didn't need people to think that she was crazy. Calm down, Jess. It's Jean. I am speaking to you with my mind. No need to speak aloud. Just think and we can communicate without written notes.

Her panic subsided. I didn't dare look behind me to see how Jessica handled our mental conversation. Mister Del was still gunning for me, after all. Wow. You are not reading my mind, right?

She had a fear about people seeing her most precious secrets, since she was a really private person.

Internally, I chuckled. No, Jess. I promise, it's only surface thoughts, not memories or feelings.

Cool! She commented, now that she was calm. Jessica realized how awesome it was to speak without getting caught in class.

I know right? I answered.

We began to talk about inane things, like fashion and music. Jessica was a fan of Nightwish, Aerosmith and Nickelback. As for me, I was an AC/DC groupie, a Bon Jovi whore and a secret RnB lover, but there was no way that I was going to confess that to punk rock Jessica. We were in the second hour of history class when I agreed to lend her some of the albums I had at home and she would do the same.

In my notebook, I took notes on things I needed to see. I was in 1996 and I needed to know what company to invest in and the new tech that build the cozy life in the 2010's. The chief one was Amazon, the current leader in E-commerce in the other reality of my other self, Hybrid technology might also be out in 1997: but I didn't know, after all the differences in this reality and my previous one was palpable.

It went like this in my notes:

The world wide web  
Google (Need to invest in it ASAP)  
Apple  
Android  
Hubble

E-commerce  
Amazon 1995  
Alibaba 1999

Operating systems  
Windows  
1991 Linux  
Stark's? (I remember that he made one for his line of computer)

Miscellaneous  
PDAs (Invest in Apple? But I hate their products)  
Java programming 1995 (Sun Microsystems/Oracle 2010)  
DVD (Out any day, now)  
Cellphones (2G soon, must invent smartphone before anyone else)  
MP3 Players 1997-1998 (If I remember right, but knowing Marvel it will fuck with me)  
Hybrid technology 1997 (Toyota Prius released in Japan)  
Near Field Communication 1997 (I can't believe it started being used in toys, lol)  
USB flash drives 1999-2000 (That's actually super important! Need to get the tech)  
MQ-1 Predator drones exist in 1995 (drones technology exist already)  
Digital Video Record (DVR) in 1999  
Playstation 1994  
Wifi (When? 2000?)  
GPS 1995

Result of knowing everything here, was that I needed money! A lot of money, like in the millions to start up; and I needed to do more research, to see what was out there. I couldn't just rely on my other worldly knowledge. Fortunately, my telepathy armed me to uncover information. My attention was divided between Jessica talking about her life before being adopted, on my note and in small part on the class.

Don't worry Jess, I will not let anything bad happen to you. You have suffered enough, losing your parents must have been trying. I genuinely felt for her.

Imagining myself without my mom and dad was dire. I love them to bits. Not being able to speak or hug mom, or speak history and politics with dad… or going to picnic? Hugging mentally the girl, I found that Jessica reciprocated it. She was a fast learner with telepathic talk- she already found me in my mindscape and speaking with me.

My inner world was made to be familiar, so I found myself in my house and we were sitting near each other on the sofa while on the big TV screen we could see what was happening in class. It was strange to have someone sharing mental space with me; it meant that Jessica might have a knack for mental defense which not everyone was suited for.

By the way, I still need to teach you to shield your mind, another telepath could walk-in and mess with you… I told her in passing, still taking notes.

Jessica's mental mimic held onto my tightly and she shouted, I really want to learn!

I could see that she didn't forget her first freak out about hearing another voice in her head. Smiling at her, I nodded. We will begin after school, I promise. Though I must tell you that I established a permanent mental link between our two minds, for the sake of protection I am also protecting yours, acting like a shield. Is that ok?

She wrung her hands, looking at me nervously. I don't know what to feel, Jean… but I think that you are a good person, I-I can feel your emotions right now. You really want to protect me.

That's because I'm projecting my feelings and my mind to you. I want you to trust me. You are my friend and I take care of those I call friends.

It was as simple as that, you could use this ability tele-empathy, it allowed me to communicate through emotions. It was a variation of my empathic ability that I always depended on; sometimes I think that if I lost my powers I would become even more distrustful of human beings as I was no longer used to interpreting people without them.

Even though I tried to not feel Jessica's emotions, they came through to me. I felt the start of something I call platonic love- love destined for friends- bypass my filter. She was grateful, and there I felt our friendship deepen slightly. It was crazy how fast a relationship could be built with telepathy.

Ok, you seem to know your stuff, let's have it on a trial basis. Jessica said, taking the decision.

I decided right here to always ask her when I was about to do something with telepathy. I wouldn't want to lose her trust, because she had grown on me.

You can speak to me, whenever you want. Distance doesn't matter with this link between us, ok? I revealed.

This is better than speaking on a telephone! She was gushing.

I can feel that she might abuse that ability I just gave her really soon. Fortunately, I controlled access. After a moment, Jessica finally eased in the mindscape with me, so much so that I decided to tell her about the junkyard training I prepared for us.

She became enthused at the prospect of testing herself, and seeing what she was made off. I liked this part of her. We were jolted out of my mindscape when the bell shrilled. I didn't like the experience. Mister Del gave us homework and bid us a good day. Next class was French and for Jessica it was Mathematics, I wished her good luck and we went our separate ways but we were never apart.

# # #

Lunch Break

I saw Jessica coming. She hesitated, but when she saw my smile, she strode toward me, taking a seat at my usual table. I took out my lunch box and she followed suit. She looked at my lunch box and shook her head, this was a clear sign that I was a momma's girl. But she stopped thinking that when the lasagna's smell wafted to her nose.

"I love mom's food." I stabbed my plastic forks in the lasagna and began to eat.

Jessica literally drooled as I was eating. "Hum…"

I looked from my lunch box and asked, "What did Alisa give you?"

She wanted to ask me for a bite, and I wanted her to, before I offered. Jessica needed to be more forthright with others and stop bottling up her problems and feelings.

"Leftovers from last night's dinner. Mashed potatoes with chicken breast."

It sounded good enough. "Hmm, do you want to share?"

She nodded eagerly, her hair bouncing, which made me chuckle. Jessica gave me half of her lunch and I gave her half of mine and we ate in silence for the most part. The pink haired punk girl was cooing at how delicious mom's food tasted. Alisa Jones was an adequate cook, though she had nothing on my mom. The chicken was decently seasoned, but she was nothing to write about.

"What are you doing this weekend?" I asked when we were almost done eating.

"Huh?" as she swallowed her food, Jessica began to think. "Hum, my homework and staying at home."

Basically she planned to watch TV till her brain cells died. "Would you be interested in coming to my house for the weekend?"

The pink haired girl stared at me for a whole thirty seconds, before entering negotiation mode. "Will we have the same level of delicious food?" She indicated to the rest of the lasagna in her lunch box with her fork. The laugh I let out was throaty. "Darling, I will show you a full course meal if you come."

Wiping my mouth with tissue, I put the plastic cutlery in my empty lunch box. Lifting my head, I saw Jessica's eyes shine with anticipation. "I will ask Alisa tonight."

"Yes!" I raised my fist in the air.

Jessica laughed at my antics, but I was happy. I finally got a friend to come home with me for the weekend. It's been five years since I last had that.

Her smile disappeared though. "But, knowing Alisa, she might force us to take Patsy alongside."

I snapped my fingers. "Damn."

Jessica finished her own meal before awkwardly looking right and left, not wanting anyone to hear her and then whispered, "Hum, Jean. Do your parents know about your powers?"

I nodded, and I leaned in my plastic chair. "Yes, I had to tell them about the TK and telepathy."

"TK?" Jessica was clueless.

"Telekinesis." I enlightened her.

She understood. "Ah yeah. So you can make things float?"

Looking into her brown eyes, I decided to be a bit more precise in the powerset I was cultivating. "Jess, telekinesis is so much more versatile… for example it allows me to enhance my condition, allowing me to increase my strength, speed, reflexes, endurance, durability, agility, leap, stamina, healing, senses etc."

Jessica whistled at that. She recalled how I overpowered her physically yesterday. She understood how I did it now.

Then I continued to speak, "But I…" I shook my head. "Let's just say that I could destroy this school if I really wanted. I will show you when we go to the junkyard, ok?"

With her brown eyes wide open, Jessica stared at me with something akin to interest. "I can't wait."

I laughed. What a simple girl- she didn't even bat an eye at me telling her that I could nuke this place. After calming down, I asked my friend, "I want to ask you something though. Do Patsy and Alisa know of your super powers?"

"Fuck, no! Miss perfect would see me as a monster, or worse." She glared at me for even asking. I smiled, as she already felt at ease with me to exchange banter.

Tilting my head I thought deeply about it, and reviewed what I felt when I scanned Patsy and Alisa. "I think Alisa would do what you said, but Patsy? No, she likes you too much."

She blinked twice, cleary taken aback. "She likes me? Even though I am mean to her? Even though..."

I put a hand on Jessica's. "Yeah, you should tell her. At least at home you would have someone who has your back. And maybe just maybe we could include her in our talk if your adoptive mother is foisting her on us."

My friend lowered her eyes looking at my hands on hers and linked our fingers. "I will… I will think about it."

She let go of me and began to think. "Hey, I was just telling you what I felt with my empathy."

Jessica lifted her head and then her eyes began to become troubled. She felt unsettled about everything I've been telling her.

"Jean you have so much power…" I closed my eyes and thought about the time I was scared of myself. "Yeah I know. It was scary at first. I kept hearing people's thoughts in my head all the time."

"How did you gain control over them?" Jessica asked, eager to gain more insight into my life. "Well I was watching Star Trek, and I imagined being in control of the Enterprise in my head. Actually, my telepathic shield looks like the ship with the shield deployed all the time. This is how I defend myself from telepathic intrusion." I said, all the while hoping she didn't think I was a nerd. Which I wasn't- I was a badass geeky vigilante.

Jessica frowned. "You speak as if you have… met another telepath before."

I shut my eyes, and my hands shook when I remembered the man who set me on this course of action. The path of domination, and when I see him next I'm going to take everything from him. No one makes me live in fear! I felt a hand cover my own.

I opened my eyes, seeing worry plastered across Jessica's face. I calmed inside. "Yeah I did, and they are… dangerous. That's why I am adamant you learn how to shield your mind Jess. If we hang out together, you might meet some of those guys again."

As I let that bomb drop, we stared at each other and nodded in synch. "I don't want to get my brain rummaged through… or worse."

"Don't worry, the next person trying to do that to you will have a… nasty surprise." My tone was forceful.

Jessica shook her head and for once she didn't feel curious about what I meant. "I don't wanna know."

"Good." I didn't want to tell Jessica about my nocturnal activities. Changing the subject, I asked,"What are your wishes after highschool?"

"I was thinking of going in the military." She sounded unsure.

I vigorously shook my head. "Nope, they would experiment on you."

It sounded logical to me! She would outperform every being there.

"Huh… right." Her cheeks turned red again.

Seeing that I had an in, I decided to recruit her early for the plan. "You should work for me. I intend to open a business."

"What type of business?" Now she sounded interested.

"I plan on opening a company which will start off by specializing in electronics and then I intend to diversify. Things to help powered people like us too."

Her interest didn't wane yet, but she shrugged and answered me non-committally. "Huh, we will see."

Well, I tried. I will help her however I can. "I will always have a job for you, Jess."

The bell rang at this instant, and it was time to go to the final class of the day. We stood up and put our lunch boxes into our bags and left the cafeteria.

# # #

Queens  
Junkyard Fabio and son

I returned Jessica and Patsy to their home, and Jessica came back after she dumped her school bag in her room. Her adoptive sister looked sad that she couldn't follow us, but she had to go to her dancing activities that Alisa had forced on her. Now we were in the junkyard east of the Queens, surrounded by many broken appliances.

"Ok, Jeany. Where do we start?" Jessica asked impatiently, though she was jumping around in excitement.

Looking around me, I sought for something to start with. It should be light, not covered in filth and easy to dispose off… ah found it. My eyes fell on a busted washing machine.

"Well… I want you to lift stuff. You will begin small, so see if you can lift that washing machine there?" Pointing to said machine, Jessica's eyes followed. "Too easy." Jessica smiled, as she walked up toward the half crushed machine. She seized it in her hands where her fingers dug into the metal of the appliances to find purchase, then she lifted it, not even straining at all.

Jessica looked at me with a big grin on her face. "See."

"Yes." I said deadpan, not impressed at all.

She frowned at my expression. "You can do better?"

"Actually, yeah." Jean said, waving her hand and everything around Jessica began to float.

Microwaves, washing machines, TV, even an old truck had lifted from the ground with sinister creaks. I made them levitate and orbit around Jessica, the typical red psionic energy of my power visible. She looked around her at the show of junk flying around like fireflies, in a state of awe. Jessica huffed. "You show off."

"Takes one to know one, Jones." I pointed, with a smug smile.

"Hmph." Jessica felt that I could do more than this but was downplaying it.

Well to be frank I was, but I want to introduce her slowly to what an Omega level mutant could do. I could lift everything around us in that junkyard and crush it

I wanted to show her that telekinesis was clearly more than what TV shows or movies made it to be. For example, in the movie Carrie it wasn't used to its maximum potential, but it had been a horror one. Though a few doors closing and a slaughter at a prom wasn't really descriptive of the ability.

"So what else?" Jessica asked me, she had regained confidence in herself rather fast.

I liked that, she didn't dwell on what she couldn't do but on what she might possibly be able to do.

"This was clearly no challenge to you… hmm. Oh I know!" I ran to the area we had passed by earlier with all the truck carcasses.

I pushed the littering junk on the ground out of the way with TK to avoid tripping, this jacket and skirt were expensive and I didn't want to have any yucky stain on them.

I felt that Jessica was following me. Before I knew it, she caught up to me even though I was running at about 40 km/h or so. "Where are you going?!"

*Impressive, she can keep up with me.* I thought.

"We are going to see if my theory is right." I said aloud to her.

With a burst of speed I went ahead of her and found myself at the foot of the vehicle pile. "Huh?" Jessica had been surprised to be left behind, she was frowning; but I didn't leave her time to dwell on my clear superiority, she needed to find her own legs after all, not compare herself to me. My super speed was decent, but Quicksilver could run circles around me, so I'm not going to get cocky for so little.

"I think that if you train really hard, you could be really strong Jess." I told her when she arrived near me by skidding on the ground to slow her run.

*Swag.* I thought.

Jessica wasn't even sweating. She had more stamina than I thought, I was a bit jealous.

"How strong are we talking about?" The pink haired girl asked.

"Superman strong." I said with seriousness.

Jessica stared at me for a moment before I felt mirth bubble in her thoughts. Pfft. Jessica began laughing at me.

Raising an eyebrow at her, I asked. "What?"

Jessica continued to laugh at me and between breath she said, "You are such a comic geek."

"So?" I didn't see what was funny, I liked my comics. I had a collection of them in my bookshelf. It was a piece of my home reality that I would never have thought that I would be able to see in the Marvel universe. Though I was happy to not have ended up in the DC universe, if I had, I would totally end up being Kara Zor-El or something.

A sly glint shone in Jessica's brown eyes and she said, "What would happen if I was to tell everyone, particularly to those jocks wanking about you, that the unofficial queen of the school was a big nerd?"

I scowled at her. "You wouldn't dare."

"Ah yeah? How are you going to stop me?" She turned her nose up at me.

I ran at super speed after my friend, but Jessica jumped into the air before I could catch her and flew low, taunting. "You can't even catch me!" She looked down on me with a smug smile.

"Never underestimate me, Jones." I said as I stomped my feet on the ground and rose into the air after her.

Jessica's eyes widened as she looked at me catch up to her, but she snapped out of her shock and ran away. What should have been a session to see what we could do ended up being a game of tag between the two of us. Fortunately, I had deployed a keep away mental field; two flying girls in a junkyard might attract attention.

Thirty minutes later, we landed and were dead lifting cars, Jessica kept turning car carcasses into balls of metal the size of a soccer ball. Me, I showed her that I could do the same, and the junkyard became littered with metal balls of all colors.

We also saw the limit of what we could do with Jessica unable to lift a semi-truck fully loaded. I still could but decided not to show off. "Well, I guess we finally know where you should start your training. This weekend we will find something heavier for you to lift."

Jessica thought hard about it. I felt a lot of hesitation within her, and knew she was hiding something from me which she wouldn't dare voice aloud, or in her surface thoughts. She was talking too fast for telepathic speak.

*That's what happens when you give a new toy to teenagers, they adapt scary fast to it…* I realized.

She shrugged, her expression guarded. "Why? It's not like I will be using my strength or anything."

I call bullshit on that. I knew her. At least I read about her. Almost conversationally I told her, "I plan to become a superheroine."

Jessica's head whipped toward me so fast I flinched. She smiled at me and empathically I felt relief as she let go of the tension in her shoulders. "Oh. I wasn't the only one to have that silly dream then."

"In fact… I already am one. I saved the lives of two people last night." I remembered the Waynes, and the calling card of Thomas was burning a hole in my wallet now that I thought about it.

"Last night?" Jessica was interested.

Caught her, hook, line and sinker. "Do you want me to show you?"

Astonished, she approached me and held onto my shoulders. "You can do that?!"

Thank god that I was still being surrounded by a telekinetic field or else she might have crushed my shoulders. I took her hands in mine. "Yes, If I focus really hard I can see the memories of people but I can also project my memories into their minds, it's a two way street."

Huh, why is she telling me that instead of just showing me? Jessica asked herself.

I caught that because she thought loudly about it, and decided to answer her question. "Well, because Jess, you are a very private person and I don't want to take advantage of you, I prefer to ask you permission when it concerns the integrity of your mind."

Jessica hugged me tightly at that, she felt so warm; I hugged her back, then she pushed me away as she was embarrassed by the physical contact we had, as she wasn't used to it. "Thanks, Jean. Hum, c-can you show me?"

"Sure!" I cheered, as I crossed the mental bridge separating our minds and then on the big TV screen in my mindscape. I showed her what happened last night.

Jessica watched with rapt attention at the memory, and flinched when she saw the bullet destined for Martha ricocheting on my psionic force-field ending up hitting the black guy and him falling on the ground screaming. She cheered, when she saw me drop kicking the other latino guy. When the white guy fainted and soiled his pants, Jessica struggled to breathe, laughing so greatly. Fast forwarding the memory, I decided not to show her how I killed the guys, instead showing when the Waynes expressed their gratitude to me. I didn't want to disgust her, nor did I feel proud of it at all.

"That was awesome!" Jessica hugged me again, and I patted her head.

Nodding, I gave her a dazzling smile. "Yeah it was a rush, and there was this warm glow in my belly when they thanked me… I'm going to keep being a superhero."

I felt a decision taking root in my friend's heart and with hesitation she asked me, "D-do you think I could be one?! That I could go with you?"

Closing my eyes, I began to weigh the pros and cons of this idea. Jess could act as my moral compass- I didn't want to kill people left, right and center, and she could stop me. But it was dangerous, so I was going to wait for her to be prepared before I said yes. I wouldn't let her think it was simply all a game. It wasn't. Opening my eyes, I saw a hopeful Jessica looking at me with puppy dog eyes. I won't be swayed that easily! "I will be frank Jess, I think you have potential. But before going out there, I want you to be able to hold your own."

Jessica became giddy as she realized that I was not telling her no, so I decided to continue to speak before she got it into her head that she needed to follow me tonight.

"Look Jess, I can protect myself, as you can see I am bulletproof. Well from what I can see so are you…"

She interrupted me again and asked, "I am bulletproof?! How do you know that?"

I wasn't about to tell her that I saw a list of her known powers on a database from a different reality.

"Your skin is kinda dense." I said as I pinched her, and she didn't even feel it. Wow, with a cheeky grin I decided to test the resistance of her body and tissues. I floated a stone from the ground, covered it in psionic energy for it to not shatter on contact and fired it at Jessica's body outside the mindscape.

"Ouch!" She cried.

I laughed when she glared at me. "You see, you are bullet proof."

"Now, watch the red car on your right." I launched stones at it with the power of a gatling gun. As the stones peppered the car, holes appeared in the door and its main body. Jess gaped in shock as she noticed how serious I was. She walked up to the car, touching the holes in its doors with her hands and tore the one out of the carcass of the vehicle and looks at hole from the two sides of it. When she looked at me, I saw the fear in her eyes.

Walking up to her, I took the car door out of her hand and looked at it. The holes were not large. "I hit you with the same strength, but with just one stone. Although I still think you can get wounded."

Jessica began to think about that, though I felt that it didn't turn her from the decision of becoming a superhero. She passed her fingers in the holes and then looked at me. "That's… my clothes would get tattered as they are not bulletproof too, right?"

*Wow, just wow. Her priorities are skewed.*

She was vividly imagining herself going crime fighting but getting her clothes full of holes until they tore up and showed some intimate places… I wanted to laugh at how weird her imagination was. After calming myself, and when I was sure that I wouldn't be laughing at Jessica, I answered her. "Yeah, that's why I'm not going to take you with me, yet. I must first prepare a bulletproof costume for us. Can you wait and train your skills before going out there with me?"

"Okay, I will wait but… Jeany I know you can fight, I saw you in your memory. Do you think you could teach me to be a ninja like you?"

That I could do! "Well… yes I can teach you right now if you want. I can upload the knowledge in your brain, but you'd still need to train to possess the muscle memory to be an effective fighter."

"Do it!" Jessica threw away the red car door, and with a crash it ended up on the carcass of the vehicle I created holes in.

Wow, she was so impatient. "Okay… but I warn you, you are going to get a big headache."

"Hurry!"

I had warned her and she wanted this, so who was I to tell her no? "Yeah, yeah. Be patient, okay?"

I advanced on her, placing a hand on each side of her head, gazing into her brown eyes. Then I began to project knowledge into Jessica's mind, as I went really slow, it allowed me to instantly transfer and make her understand and integrates the knowledge of the Martial skills of Krav Maga and Jeet Kune Do in her brain without a risk of overflow.

After five minutes, I finished. Jessica massaged her temples, whining. "Ouch ouch ouch."

I giggled. "See I told you it would hurt."

Her answer was to throw a punch at me, which I evaded by nonchalantly leaning my head to the right. Catching her arm, I threw her from my shoulder and onto the ground. Jessica came back on her feet, resembling those from a Kung Fu's movie by doing some gymnastics and we began to fight in earnest. For a while shockwaves and dust were being thrown around by the displacement of air due to our fast and powerful strikes that surely could be heard all over the junkyard.

I must have done something good with the slow knowledge projection because Jessica slowly integrated the moves I possessed. However, I knew the same move, so could easily counter her. She often found herself on the ground staring at the blue sky on her back.

Jessica stood, not wishing to fight again.

"See, we will need a lot of training to get you up to spar."

The integration of knowledge was still occurring, and I was sure that Jessica would become a decent fighter after a good night's sleep and training.

"Fine!" Jessica glared at me. She burned with the passion of wanting to take me down at least once. She made me sweat though, as it was hard to keep up with her stamina. It means I needed to up my game as I wanted her as a sidekick- not the other way around.

As she took in her state, she growled. "Urgh, look at me, I look so dirty."

Her tights were full of holes, and her hoodie was torn. "Yeah, sorry about that." I looked at the time on my wristwatch. "I think it's time to go home, it's already 06:30 PM."

Jessica's piercing gaze settled on me as she inspected her hoodie. "You owe me a new hoodie, Jean."

I waved at her, avoiding her gaze. "Okay, we will try to go shopping tomorrow."

She fisted the air. "Yes!"

I took her arm and we flew into the air, on a search for my car. We found it where I had left it behind another vehicle. I kept us invisible when I checked that no one was looking at us and lifted the force cloak to enter my Camaro. Ten minutes later, I brought Jessica back to the Jones's home, asking Alisa if Jessica could come stay over at my house for the weekend tomorrow.

Alisa accepted, but at the condition that I could let Patsy join. Jessica didn't feel enthused by that, but I accepted. It was time to bring Patsy in on the secret anyway; Jessica needed help at home and for someone other than me to have her back. After telling everyone goodbye, I climbed into my Camaro and left the neighborhood, I found a secluded and spacious alley and parked my car there. Looking left and right and with my mental detection field on to see if there was anyone I decided to try a little something I thought about this morning at the end of history class.

I spread my TK field all over my car and with enough focus it lifted into the air. *Now to see if my theory is right…*

By projecting my TK field around my car, I willed it to bend the light around it. I invented this while thinking about Star Wars force cloak ability and the cloaking device in Star trek. I think that this ability made me completely invisible to the electromagnetic and telepathic spectrum, but I might be wrong until someone could in fact sense me.

I could still see the car and myself as I was bathed in red psionic energy. My theory was that if I could make myself invisible, why couldn't I make something else? I tested it, now satisfied. This also meant that I could fly my car from my town to Manhattan in record time! But I still needed to be careful,as radar might still be able to pick me up.

With a thought, my car rose into the air and I flew into the sky at the driving wheel of my Camaro. I felt awesome as I zipped between building and followed the road to reach Annandale-on-Hudson.

# # #

(Elektra Natchios)

Hell's Kitchen  
06:12 PM

Elektra Natchios wasn't happy at all. Since last night in fact, Matt Murdock, her boyfriend was being more violent than usual as they exchanged blows during their sparring session. She avoided, jumped and countered. Matt put her on the defensive until she had enough and absorbed the force in his strike to use it against him and send him flying to the wall and with swiftness put the blunted edge of her training Sai on his throat.

"Yield." She commanded, pushing the point of her weapon in his neck. Her eyes were cold and unrelenting.

Matt, sighed and then his breathing settled. "I yield."

Lowering her weapon, Elektra eyes turned warm in an instant. She folded her arms around the blind man, hugging and kissing him. They came up for air two minutes later. The greek woman looked at the face of her lover, asking him, "Matt, agápi (darling) what's gotten into you?"

He reached out for his woman. "I'm sorry, honey… this- I had a bad night last evening."

The assassin allowed him to grasp onto her right arm, guiding Matt to the sofa, out of the dojo area of his loft, where they sat in silence. . Elektra positioned herself in his arms, and Matt sniffed her scent. They remained like that for a few beats. She knew Matt would tell her what happened without her needing to ask. placed herself in his arm, Matt sniffed her long mane of black hair and they stayed like that for a moment. The assassin knew that her Matt will tell her the story without being asked. This was how they rolled- no secrets, no lies, only complete trust.

"Last night I went patrolling as usual." Matt started, his fingers running through her hair. "and I stopped the usual mugging and human trafficking scum. But as I was returning home, two people were attacked by a group of three wannabe gangsters, ready to molest a woman while holding her husband at gunpoint."

Elektra nodded at that, and smiled. Her Matt possessed this heroic streak in him that he would use to curb his wilder urges. Though she liked how rough he was in bed due to them.

"You saved them of course…?" Elektra commented, absently.

Matt growled, a sure sign that he was happy. "No I didn't."

"What?!" Elektra shouted, jumping out of his embrace to tower over him. *No, I can't believe Matt stood still while watching people getting hurt. If he did, he isn't the man I lo-* Elektra began to think.

Matt interrupted her mental monologue. "Someone else intervened."

*Oh, I guess I was too quick to judge…* Elektra reddened, her embarrassment clear to see for Matt who smiled slightly at her; she came back to sit on Matt's lap.

Without preamble, she began to ask questions. "Who? How strong was he? Did he save them?"

Matt growled again, correcting, "She."

"Oh, a woman." Elektra looked at him, finding it cute how frustrated he looked."A young woman." He cleared.

He began describing her. "Sixteen-eighteen years old at the most, she was… different. She was faster than you, stronger too and she had weird abilities such as flying or I think telekinesis?"

Elektra looked ludicrously at Matt,. She had seen weird things in her life as an assassin, but not people with such flagrant ability that Matt described. She really wanted to meet this girl, now.

The assassin stroked Matt's short hair. "You came back with bruised ribs and bruises all over your body, so you fought her. Why? If she was saving those people."

Matt leaned his head into Elektra's hand. "She let one of assailants run and told him to live a life free of crime for no reason I could understand, then she proceeded to try to kill the two others."

She had expected that. Matt wouldn't be bothered by someone trying to do good, but killers in general. He had that pesky habit to let his foes live as well, but she learned to accept that defect in his mentality. To Elektra, Matt's behavior about killing and helping people reminded her of the Knights of old, he had a similar honor code: to protect the weak and defenceless, to give succour to widows and orphans, to live by honour and glory, at all times to speak the truth, and to despise pecuniary reward.

*He is my devilish knight.* Elektra chuckled.

But something Matt had said nudged in her brain. "Wait, she let one get free? What was so special about him?"

Matt nodded. "Well, he was just a kid; barely the same age as her and I don't think he knew with what type of crew he was running with."

The girl didn't seem too bad, Elektra didn't understand what Matt had against her. She let the kid go. "So she was aware of that fact. What about the two others?"

Matt kept silent for a moment as he tried to gather his thoughts about what happened last night. Elektra continued to stroke his arm in encouragement, the blind man never thinking that he was being subtly manipulated by her feminine wiles.

Matt finally spoke."That's where it gets murky, because she kept saying that they deserved death; that their body count was longer than I thought and attacking people like this couple wasn't the first time they did such a thing."

Elektra halted. On her travels she had encountered people like that who always knew things or predicted them. The Chaste employed them and protected them; but there was a good chance that the young woman, Matt was speaking about was some kind of self-taught martial mystic.

The Chaste was a mystical martial arts enclave founded by Izo, and led by Stick. Coincidentally, he was Matt's previous teacher as well as Elektra's. They lived apart from society in a remote wilderness location that could only be accessed by climbing "the Wall," a sheer cliff too high for the average human being. The climb also served as an entrance exam. The Chaste's mission was to combat the Hand, a clan of ninja that worship an ancient spirit named the Beast.

Elektra's goal was to destroy the Hand for killing her father. She was interested in meeting this young woman, maybe she was part of something that she could use to destroy her enemies. If there was something Elektra has learned throughout her life, it's that coincidence didn't exist.

The assassin said with a thoughtful tone, "I think our mysterious heroine is able to differentiate who is guilty or not. How was her fighting ability?"

Matt thought fast about what his lover guessed, it would explain why the young woman, Phoenix was adamant in killing the two men. "One moment she's a bumbling newbie and the next she's like she was someone who has been moderately trained. But with her power and speed she could keep up with me."

Moderately trained for Matt was someone akin to the military and special forces of his country. To have that degree of proficiency so young spoke of talent.

"Intriguing." Elektra scommented, letting Matt toy with her breast; he was a really handsy man.

Elektra focused on what her lover was saying, instead of what he was doing to her body; it was a matter of control, but Matt's superior tactile senses knew every of her erogenous areas. She couldn't stop the moan that she emitted from getting out.

Matt chuckled devilishly in his girlfriend's ear. He could stay serious while still having his fun. "In the end, I couldn't stop her from killing the two men. With her telekinesis, she crushed the head of the first one with her foot and crushed the entire body of the one she had previously crippled with some kind of energy she interacted with through her aura."

And she could control her Chi? Elektra wanted to fight against this girl. Though, with everything Matt told her, Elektra got a profile of the young girl he confronted. She was a good person and was not afraid to do things that needed to be done, it spoke of resolve, willpower tempered with honor.

"And you fought her, I think... Matt I think you are lucky to be left alive." Elektra added.

She was happy that Matt wasn't killed, Elektra didn't know what she would have done if Matt was killed. This girl wasn't the killer her lover thought she was- at least Elektra thought so.

"How so? I won, didn't I? She ran away." Matt frowned.

*Oooh, men and their little ego.* Elektra laughed internally.

"No, agápi, she let you live. The wounds on your body... the young woman avoided every vital points and she just roughed you up."

Matt felt humbled by Elektra's revelation. "I- yes you are right, you know, now that I think about it, she told me that she was looking for me."

That got the attention of Elektra and she stopped Matt's hand to continue to do wonderful things to her body. "Why?"

Matt coughed, feeling his woman's right hand on his. Elektra was strong for a woman. "She wanted to become my disciple."

Elektra stood up, and began to pace before the sofa. Matt, in his daredevil costume was unknown to most, was just an urban legend at this point, and the girl knowing about him further pointed toward Martial Mystic business, or worse the Ancient One meddling.

But maybe Elektra was seeing too much into it. "Strange, she must know about you from someone else."

As if Matt read her mind, he said, "Elektra, I think she's just a kid who's trying to play hero, if you meet her don't fight her, I will."

Elektra's eyes veered on Matt's face. He oozed seriousness, and had this stubborn expression etched on his face that brokered no argument.

*I don't think so, Matt. This young girl- I will take care of her.*

# # #

Manhattan  
Hell's Kitchen  
10:00 PM

Elektra was spying on a known allies apart of the Hand, and had been for hours. She was sticking to the ceiling of the penthouse Wilson Fick, also known as Kingpin, owned at the top of Norton, a high-class hotel he just purchased. Wilson Fisk, nicknamed the Kingpin; she was sticking to the ceiling of the penthouse he owned at the top of the Norton, a high-class hotel he just bought. Currently the man was pursuing a black haired woman, who wasn't fazed by his ugly looks, and great weight.

Though Elektra knew this was all a show as looks could be deceiving. Wilson Fisk just looked fat when in fact he was made of muscles. Elektra feared that made him a too powerful opponent to take on for Matt in the future; she had seen him use his strength on one of the new vigilantes in the city, spider-something, she couldn't remember his name for the life of her, it had sounded so silly. Fisk was strong enough to use his heavy oak desk and large sofa as weapons, and possessed the ability to crush a skull without effort.

The scene she had spied upon in his office at the Fisk tower earlier, where she saw him kill an incompetent employee, still played in her mind. She lightly shook her head, not wanting her movement to be noticed in the darkness of the high ceiling.

Fisk was a shrewd, but capable man, whose financial empire was backed by his criminal enterprises. He was a criminal genius, highly skilled strategist and organizer. He employs numerous henchmen, and scientists. Elektra knew that, but she was scared by the fierce loyalty she had seen his employees give him; she didn't know if it was dedication, fear- or both.

"Vanessa, honey, you can't believe the day I had today." The crime lord seemed to be the classical type of husband who told his problems to his wife.

"I don't want to know, Will. You know that I don't like when you talk business at home." Vanessa's tone was tern, her cold blue eyes forcing her husband to look down on his food.

"I'm sorry, I forgot. Nessa you know, we should go skiing in the Alps with the kids just like you wanted." The man tried to negotiate. He took a swig of wine, averting his eyes, clearly avoiding looking at his wife.

Elektra almost chuckled. It seemed the Kingpin was human like everyone else. He couldn't even stand tall against his wife's gaze.

After a long moment, Vanessa seemed to think about her husband's proposal. "There will be no business talk on this trip? Just us as a family with my little ones?"

Fisk looked hotly at his wife, slapping his fork on the nice white tablecloth "They are mine too, Nessa!" His voice raised.

"Then act like it!" Vanessa shouted back, here eyes colder.

Fisk seemed to deflate under his wife's expression. "I'm sorry, Nessa. I will try to be there for Richi and Princess."

They began to eat in silence again, before Vanessa took a moment to once again speak, calmly. "What about Maya? She's my daughter too."

Fisk sighed, stared at his wife and said, "She's training, she doesn't like me interrupting."

Vanessa scowled. "Force her to. She needs a life too, Wilson. I know she likes to dance and play the piano but there's so much more to life and I want her to socialize!"

Maya Lopez was the Fisks recently adopted daughter, and from the information Elektra had dug she learned she was fifteen years old now and a prodigy as a dancer, pianist and boxer. Occasionally moonlighting as a performance artist.

"I will, now can we have a normal dinner?!" The man pleaded, rolling his eyes at her.

Elektra then saw the black haired woman take her cutlery knife and threw it with accuracy in the T-boned steak he was eating. "Don't take that tone with me, Wilson Grant Fisk."

He lowered his eyes, sounding apologetic. "I'm sorry, Nessa."

The woman smiled appreciatively and nodded. "Better."

*That woman is dangerous.* Elektra thought.

The strange couple finished their dinner. Vanessa Fisk retired for the night and waited for Wilson Fisk to leave for her to do the same, but it didn't go as planned. The man surprised Elektra when he said, "Now that you know that much about my family life, assassin. What do you intend to do with this information?"

*He knows I am here! How?!" Elektra was taken aback.

Fisk continued to speak. "Did someone hire you? Will I have to take you in for you to tell me who it is? Damn, I'm lucky you didn't attack while Vanessa were here, she would have accused me of bringing work at home again."

Elektra didn't waste time indulging in a conversation, instead sending a kunai at the light switch of the dining room, darkness descending on the room. Fisk didn't seem bothered by this as he launched the table at the ceiling to dislodge her. She let herself fall to the ground on her knees, and stood back up, throwing a smoke bomb. Smoke spread in the room almost instantly, and Elektra sent kunais at the last known position of the Kingpin.

Then she fled, through the glass window, breaking it as she passed threw herself from the ledge, into the air, and launched her graphook at the flagpole on the neighboring building and swung onto another's roof.

"Skatá (Shit)." Landing with a roll on the gravel of the roof, she continued to move, as staying in movement was life and out of the reach of the Kingpin and his allies.

The female assassin continued to run, but her instincts told her that she was being followed. She wasn't surprised when she was surrounded by seven ninjas, all clad in the same red uniform Gi. One in particular stood ahead of the lot of them, standing taller. He swaggered toward her, striding like a panther, thinking that Elektra Natchios was a prey. She was going to dissuade him of this notion really soon.

"Elektra Natchios, you will come with us. The Hand and Madame Gao want their dog back." The red clothed man hissed.

Elektra made an unladylike snort and answered. "I am no dog, Akuma."

Akuma laughed throatily, his eyes never leaving her form. "Yes you are, and you are a reprehensible one. A bitch who bit the hand that fed her and spit on the love the Madame showed her."

"I'm not going back." Elektra growled.

"Then I guess we will have to drag you back kicking and screaming all the way." The man said as he unsheathed his Ninjato, the rest of the group surrounded Elektra mimicking him.

Elektra unsheathed her twin Sais, twirled them in her hands and adopted a fighting stance. The Hand ninjas knew her reputation and how deadly Elektra was. They had been hounding her for months now after she quit to become a freelance assassin. For Akuma, there was no quitting the Hand, the only way to do so was in a bodybag.

Akuma attacked first, launching himself at Elektra, trying to strike her with a downward swing that she promptly evaded. She kneed him in the stomach and sent a kunai at the nearest ninja, catching him in the throat. She then avoided being skewered by a ninja who attacked her from behind and threw her head back to scrunch his face with the back of her head. She heard a loud crunch and her foe was on the ground, unmoving.

*Five left.* Elektra counted.

Agilely, she somersaulted, throwing herself in the air and launching her homing kunais at the rest of her enemies. She killed two this way as they got their skull pierced the others evaded the throwing knives by deflecting them with their swords. Quickly, they answered to her assault by launching their Kusarigama at her while she was airborne.

With her Sai, Elektra deflected two of the heavy ball chain, but was caught by one that wrapped itself around her left arm. The ninja pulled and neutralized one of her weapons, Akuma took advantage of the luck of his subordinate to try drop kick Elektra in the stomach but she countered it by launching her free Sai at his face.

Akuma was forced to deflect the weapon but while he did that, Elektra jumped, and while in the air, rotates her legs, kicking the red clothed ninja three times, sending him flying and crashing on the ground. Another Ninja sent his Kusarigama at her caught her feet and made her stumble when she landed on the ground. Then they quickly surrounded her, their Ninjatos pointy ends threatening to skewer her.

"Finally, we got you, Bitch." Akuma said as he stood back up.

"This isn't over yet-" Elektra was about to say, when something heavy fell on one of the Hand's ninjas.

Elektra saw that he was turned into paste by a clearly heavy load but the person having landed on him couldn't be more than fifty kilograms or so.

"Hi, am I too late to the party?" The voice was juvenile- clearly female and that of a teenager.

"You'll pay for that." Akuma told her.

"Right." The newcomer answered sassily, but with a wave of her hand the ball chains wrapped around the assassin shattered. Elektra found herself free and immediately stood back up.

The young woman then launched a beam of red light from her hand at a ninja on the right and as he was hit he screamed bloody murder as if something was stabbing him repeatedly and fell dead on the ground.

"Another one bites the dust. Do you want to continue?" She asked tauntingly.

Akuma was startled by the abilities this woman showed. He looked at his subordinate, who nodded and entered in a fighting stance.

"If you attack me, I promise you that I will break each of your necks personally, like the chicken you all are. Are you really going to do this?" The young girl had moxxi, Elektra thought, and she found herself liking her savior more and more.

They answered by attacking her in combo. She stepped back so fast that she had left an afterimage and when the remaining ninjas struck it, she caught their ninjatos in her hand and Elektra didn't know what she did but the blades turned into iron sand and she controlled it? And sent it to cover one of the ninjas who suddenly found himself unable to breathe. He fell dead. Then she looked at the remaining one who wasn't Akuma and he was lifted him from the ground.

To Elektra the ninja was being strangled and he beat his feet until the young woman in the dark hoodie tilted her head. With a loud crack, the ninja was killed, his head clearly not facing the front of his body anymore. Elektra approved of her ruthlessness, and nodded appreciatively at her. It's too bad that she got too focused on her target and left an opening for Akuma to stab her in the thigh.

"Ouch!" She screamed in pain.

Akuma was astonished, he felt his sword meet resistance, there was barely any blood on his blade and on the ground. She looked at him, her hood was now lowered, revealing the youth and beauty of his opponent and her despondent green eyes glowing in the dark.

She was really young, a redhead, barely Elektra's height. An aura of red energy suddenly surrounded her. Elektra saw as the gravel around her cleared and floated in the air as she felt the hatred of the young redhead as she projected it. Akuma stepped back now knowing he was now fighting a martial mystic.

What Elektra saw next made her thankful that Matt didn't come with her today, the girl released from her eyes, beams of energy that struck Akuma and made him fly in the air and crash in the metal cistern on the roof, pushing him into the metal and leaving an indentation.

"P-please, mer-cy." Akuma tried to say.

The young girl took the Ninjato and threw it at the Akuma, it landed on his right thigh, the same place where he had wounded her.

"I am sure that you heard that a lot from your victims, asshole." She walked up to him and unmasked him, the Ninja was still stuck in the cistern.

He was a man of asian descent, he had a gigantic scar on his face marring it. "What you sayin' now, you suckass? I told you I would break your fuckin' neck, you slant eyed motherfucker!"

Elektra was surprised by all the swearing, but it made her laugh; then she saw the young woman do what she just threatened, Akuma was no more when she heard a loud bone crack, his head was at an odd angle. Her savior crushed his head with a stare. Some brain matter, and blood, fell onto the ground. *I keep getting involved with the strange… and it keeps getting weirder.*

"Now let's see how the Hand is going to ressuscite you, if there's no body." Elektra was surprised to know that this girl already knew who she was fighting against and knew the method her enemies were fond of.

She proceeded to loot the bodies of each ninja; Shuriken, Kunais and sword flew and placed themselves at her feet. Elektra then became scared when she saw the red ki of the girl surrounding each of the bodies and… she didn't know what she was seeing, but their bodies were disappearing, turning into dust and lifting in the air becoming fine particles of light.

"You have nothing to fear from me, Miss Natchios." The young woman promised, as she turned to Elektra.

Elektra frowned, her Sais flying back into her hand. "How do you know my name?"

The girl giggled. "You are famous as an assassin and the deadliest woman after Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow."

So she did know her from someone else. Did they fight? Or did she use some other source to sought her out?

"What do you want from me?" Elektra asked, but she had an incline on what the girl wanted.

The redhead bowed slightly and said, "Instructions, I asked Daredevil, but he has this weird sense of justice and I saw that we weren't compatible as teacher and disciple. Then I decided if I was to continue with this life, that I would get instruction from the best, you."

The assassin nodded, understanding.

"Are you sure that you want to continue down this path? Those who live by the sword die by it." Elektra was strangely taken in by the eloquence of the young woman. She remembers when she was this young, all she could think about was about fashion and the next boy that attracted her attention at school.

"Miss Natchios." The redhead called her.

Elektra became startled. She didn't like to lose herself down memory lane after such events but it often happened when she remembered her father. "Call me Elektra, you saved my life, I can allow you that much."

Elektra saw the young girl coughing, fighting down a squeal. She felt that this young woman admired her as if she was a fan. This was a strange sensation for her. "Okay, hum Elektra I will tell you why. As long as I remember I wanted to do what was right, but it had taken a man to tell me before he died that with great power comes great responsibility."

Her red chi like aura spread all around her and she said, "I have all those abilities but I can barely control them. I need guidance."

Her explanation sounded rehearsed to Elektra, but this was a decent motivation she had there; she reminded Elektra of herself at a younger age, she couldn't but see herself in the position that strange younger woman. "Why don't you go to the Chaste? I can give you their location."

The redhead laughed, snorted, then laughed again, "They are all a bunch of fools, too set in their ways to see that the world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough they think they are, I will beat them to their knees and keep them there permanently. They are letting their morals and lofty ideals run the show when their enemies don't play nice."

It was said, as if this young woman knew the final fate of the Chaste. *Is she touched by the gift of prophecy too? Is she like this woman? Destiny was her name, right?*

Elektra gave the young woman a nod. "I agree with your opinion about them, but why should I take you as my disciple?"

Jean walked up to Elektra who tensed as the young girl advanced, they were face to face until she kneeled and was now lowering her head. "Please, I am dogged at the heels by an enemy too powerful for me to fight yet. He wants to take away my freedom and turn me into a broodmare."

When the girl pleaded, it broke Elektra's heart to hear such fear and plea for help from the mouth of a powerful person such as her. She didn't understand, this young woman was strong, Elektra was sure that she could take on the New York chapter of the Hand by herself; what kind of monster could make her so afraid for her life?

"Who?" Elektra wanted to know who could be so dangerous.

The younger redhead lifted her head and looked back at her. "I cannot tell you, he would know, he is always watching." She said as she shook her head vigorously.

Her decision was already taken when she saw the haunted look in those green eyes. "Very well, what is your name young woman?"

"Jean, Jean Grey but others call me Phoenix." There were tears falling down Jean's cheeks.

Elektra placed a hand on her left shoulder. "Do you swear to always listen to me, Jean Grey? Helping me like I would be helping you? Of never lying to me and never to keep secrets from me?"

"Yes, I swear, Master." Jean bowed her head, smiling.

Elektra smiled back at her, elation laced in her tone when she said, "Then stand up Phoenix. I accept you as my disciple."

"Thank you." The girl sobbed, hugging Elektra who tapped on her back, embarrassed by the affection suddenly coming from the girl.

# # #

(Agent Phil Coulson)

Queens  
Cerberus Security, HQ  
September, 9th 1996  
10:00 AM

Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, but the third time? It's, undeniably, enemy action. Ian Fleming had voiced this. As he mulled over this quote, Agent Phil Coulson knew that there was something rotten in Annandale-on-Hudson. First with his partner Katherine Shane, also affectionately called Kat who wished to change assignment because it was boring to stay in the car each night for so long. The change in assignment was accepted, after all, Kat had been patrolling the place for weeks and she was a Level 4 agent, she could choose her missions.

Katherine went to DC to investigate a SHIELD facility that went dark. Then it happened again, four agents this time asked for a reassignment. It was allowed and another team was dispatched. However, this time Phil waited to have them settle in their roles to let them go. He found the team deeply asleep and unable to be risen unless you harmed them.

Phil knew his agents, after all they were conscientious, responsible and good people. Sleeping on the job wasn't something they would do. When it happened a third time, Phil knew that he should do something and be proactive, he couldn't let his subordinates be prey to whatever was happening in this little town.

The agent took his phone and typed a number. After the third tonality, the line reached the caller. "Hello, Mrs Director, I request an urgent meeting."

He heard the old feminine voice say. "Is there a situation?"

Phil heaved a sigh, then looked upon the papers with demand of reassignment on his desk."I cannot say, but I need to speak to you face to face."

"Come see me." She replied, before hanging up.

Phil did the same, and stood from his chair and took the papers, quickly walking to the nearest door.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 4**

**(Agent Phil Coulson)**

**Queens****  
****Cerberus Security HQ, front for SHIELD **  
**September, Saturday 9th 1996****  
****10:05 AM**

Phil entered the office of the director, and he hoped- really hoped- he wasn't making a facts were there: someone was tampering with the minds of their agents. It was the only way to turn diligent and competent people into slackers. Phil had doubts, but his guts were telling him he was on the money.

The elevator door opened, and Phil entered in its cage, then the keyboard illuminated being replaced by another one with a retinal and a handprint scanner. Phil placed his hand on the screen, and put his right eye near the aperture that will scan his eye. The elevator lurched, then shot up. Elevator classical music played for another two minutes and Phil looked at his wristwatch.

Finally the elevator stopped. The silver, metallic doors of the cage opened on two SHIELD agent guarding a door. Protocol dictated that he should be checked for weapons by them, but they let him pass without problems. Director Carter must have given them instructions. Phil straightened his suit, smoothed down his hair,and entered.

Standing before a ten meters long bay window, a silver haired woman in a black pantsuit looked at the view of the Hudson and the people mingling in the city; the traffic being congested.

"Good morning, Phil." The woman saw his reflection in the armored glass.

"Director." He bowed his head slightly.

Margaret Elizabeth "Peggy" Carter was one of the most prominent agents of the Strategic Scientific Reserve during and after World War II and one of the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D. She was a war hero, but her fame had grown from being Captain America's old flame. Though, it didn't stop that she was an extremely well trained agent. Director Carter, was a spy mistress, investigator, an expert combatant and marksman and learned a lot of languages over the years.

Phil Coulson admired her a lot. She was a woman who had it tough amongst men, but gave as good as she got, and now she was on top, with great connections. Peggy turned, her eyes landing on Phil. With an indication for him to take a seat, she did the same herself. "Well, I am here, Agent Coulson. What was so urgent that I had to cancel my 10:00 AM meeting?"

Peggy was smiling. She had been getting bored lately, what with people thinking they could come bother her over nothing as though it was the Watergate all over again.

Phil looked hesitant, but decided to pull at the band aid in one go. "Ma'am I think we have a situation."

Any traces of mirth disappeared from the face of the director, "Report, agent."

She knew Phil, and even though he was a level four agent, at the moment, he was a reliable and competent agent- everyone serving under him was happy with how he ran things. Add to that, he possessed a scarily good intuitions for events which at first didn't have any obvious patterns.

Phil sighed, saying seriously, "I think we have a fox in the henhouse."

It was a code phrase, meaning someone actively worked against them in secret. Peggy leaned forward in her seat. "Are you sure?"

Phil's intuition were telling him so. He nodded. "Too many discrepancies, the mind of our agents are being… influenced I feel."

From memory, Peggy tried recalling the mission Coulson and his people were on. It was a strange case, with multiple people found dead or vegetables in secluded place around a residential neighborhood. What was even stranger was that, the twenty people found were all the same person, with the same DNA, fingerprints or dental match. The scientists at SHIELD were baffled, and vowed that someone had cracked how to clone humans perfectly.

Raising an eyebrow, Peggy asked, "Annandale-on-Hudson? That's the long term mission I heard get more rotations than any others lately?"

Phil nodded, putting his hands in his lap, immediately diving into what he had discovered. . "Yes ma'am. I think that the one who has turned all those clones into vegetables is now _tampering_ in some ways with our people to avoid being discovered. I suspect that Agent Shane was the first victim, Director."

Carter scowled at that. "What do you need?"

This was too serious, and she couldn't blow off a trusted agent for listening to his guts.

"Ma'am for now those are just theories, but I want permission to use recording equipment to try to catch the culprit red handed." Phil was determined more than ever to find the culprit. before. However, the patterns he noticed suggested that it was someone who wanted to be left alone, but that was too late; said person was now on the map.

Peggy raised her chin, looking imperiously at him. "You have it."

Phil sighed heavily, relief flashing across his face. "Thank you Director. I just hope that it's simply my imagination acting up. But it's better to be safe than sorry?"

Peggy nodded at that. "As you say, I just hope it's not the fault of one of those… optimized people."

Some people often came out of the woodwork with strange abilities or extreme quirks that made them exceptionally gifted. Mutants, or super soldiers, were common to her after all.

Squinting at that, Phil added, "I should take tranquiliser guns too, then."

Peggy began to take some notes and wrote that she needed to give more funding for Coulson's operation.

The agent smiled at her, repeating the motto he was brainwashed with in SHIELD training, "Always be prepared."

"Dismissed, agent Coulson." She chuckled.

Phil stood up, ready to salute, but thought better of it, instead mumbling for her to have a 'good day', and left the office. What he didn't know was that he left the weary old woman with her mind churning and worrying for the mental integrity of her agents. Instead of mulling over what she should do, Peggy decided to directly cut to the chase and contact someone who might know what's happening.

She took a communicator from the drawer, something that a dear fluffy blue friend, came up with and activated it. It was a special kind of portable phone, she pushed a button and thirty seconds later a gravely yet cultured voice could be heard, "Hello, what can I do for you Pegs?"

"Charles, I have a problem and you might know what's going on." She started, not wanting to bother him but knew it was possible that it was an operation that might pertain to his strange skills...

Amiably, the professor asked his old friend, "What is it about?"

"Do you know any of your _people _to be in Annandale-on-hudson?" Peggy bluntly said.

A strangled noise came from his end, confusing Peggy. "I… might know something about that." He said after a moment.

**# # #**

**Forest Hills ****  
****Queens Center Mall****  
****11:25 AM**

I was having fun! The huge mall was coliseum-shaped with many indoor retail stores along with a food court. It was completely different from the shopping center in Bedford Hills where mom did all her main shopping. Four stories tall, it was located in the heart of the Queens Borough, housed over 90 shopping, dining and entertainment brands, including Macy's, JCPenney, Sony, The Cheesecake Factory, H&M, and Forever 21.

A poke in my ribs stopped my gaze wandering in awe. I turned my head to the rude person who interrupted me, and I wasn't surprised that it was Jessica.

She smirked.. "You looked like a hick who came to the city for the first time."

"Hey! Not my fault this… is big. I never had time to go visit places beyond schools." Hell yeah, I was coming far to go to highschool in another town to avoid the people who treated me like a pariah in my town.

A giggle came from behind. I saw that it was Patsy who laughed at our antics. "C'mon let's go look for Jessica's new hoodie."

Yeah… I owed Jess a Hoodie; one of those goth ones she was fond of. We went to the shop Jess get all her punk rock things, called Etsy. It was a well lit shop full of mannequin as display models with shelves upon shelves of different type of clothing, pants, skirts, hoodies, shirts and T-shirts, even different type of shoes. They sold mostly handmade clothes which had good quality, and were stylish. The price tag on some raised my eyebrows more than once. The punk rock girl must have caught my surprise as she said, "You see now why I was so upset?" Jessica crossed her arms under her breast, she wore a purple top and black skirt with boots that went well with her general demeanor.

She scowled at me and added, "I had to save up money and babysit many whining kids to buy it."

Whew, I understood why she was put off yesterday, but it's her fault too- who told her to fight in such expensive clothing?

"Okay, okay I will get it for you. Damn I hoped to buy that nice skirt I saw in the window though." I raised my hands before me to placate her. "But next time you want to learn how to fight, you bring sportswear."

Jessica smiled smugly, having the cheek to say, "Fine."

Satisfied with herself, she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. I rolled my eyes and lightly slapped her arm, we smiled at each other in camaraderie. Patsy looked at us with a strange gaze and asked, "Sis, you learn how to fight from Jean?"

We almost forgot about Patsy, *Whoops!*

I smiled smugly at her and patted her on the head. Why was this kid so cute?

Jessica intervened."Yeah, she's good! A real ninja."

I shook my head. I wasn't even at the level of Elektra or a Hand ninja yet, and I cheated with my powers. But I was so happy about having landed Elektra as my sensei, because it was finally something going right. However, I dreaded what kind of training awaited me.

"Could you show me later, Jean?" She gazed at me with puppy dog eyes. *W-what is this? She's shining?!* I looked at Jessica who just rolled her eyes again and said through our mental link, She do that all the time to get what she wants.

I nodded, shooting Patsy a smile. "Sure, Pat."

"Cool!" She lifted her head and looked at me with upturned eyes.

And that was that. I splurged money, buying a cute, black hoodie which adorned a fairy on the back for Jessica and that awesome sauce black leather cropped mini skirt in genuine lambskin. It was a seventy dollars expense, but I just closed my eyes and bought it. Result I am 105$ lighter, my pocket money was basically 200$ per month as I helped around the house. I needed to do something about my income.

*Ah I know, I will steal it from criminals! We are in the nineties, so I just have to hit somewhere they launder their money and I am golden.* But I didn't have enough time to think about it as Jessica suddenly pulled me and led me to the mall's first level and we navigated through the throng of people, where there was even some tourists mingling. We passed Macy's, H&M and a cafe, until we stopped before a eaterie called AuntieAnne's, it smelled awesome inside; I discovered that it sold mainly pretzel products, dips and drinks.

We ordered lemonade, pretzels and nuggets. I think I found a new place to hang out. Spending another hour shopping, we finished our mall foray with lunch at a Shake Shack. We pooled our money for a serving of burgers and milkshakes, loving it, but as we ate I was trying to make things easier for Jessica, because I didn't plan to drive for two hours to my house.

_Hey Jess, you know that we are going to fly with my car to arrive at my house, right?_ I said as I chewed on my bacon and steak burger.

Jessica had this deer in the headlights expression on her face that told me she wasn't ready for this. _Uh oh. But what about Patsy?_

She stopped eating and put her burger on the plate. Patsy looked at us, shrugged and continued to eat. However, she still was observing us.

I hugged Jessica's mind with my own., _We could tell her about our abilities, I keep having a good feeling about her. She's trustworthy, I wouldn't like to push her mind to sleep on the way._

Jessica seemed to understand my reticence in wanting to manipulate the mind of her step sister, and I sensed her resolve steeling in her mind through our bond. If there was one thing the pink haired young woman before me respected, it was the sanctity of one's mind.

She looked into my eyes, while I slurped on my vanilla milkshake. _This isn't an easy decision, but… I do trust your intuition. You are the telepath after all._

_When we get back to the car we will tell her then._ I put my milkshake down.

Patsy looked between the two of us.

"You know girls, you act as if you were having a silent conversation. It makes me feel like a third wheel."

*This girl is scary sharp.* I thought. Jessica just snorted at her, but I saw her flinch of surprise. Gathering courage, I decided to broach the subject of what I was discussing with her big sister. "I-hum… Patsy we have something to tell you, but not here, ok?"

"Huh, you are together with Jess is that it?" Patsy shyly lowered her blue eyes, her cheeks reddening.

This took me by surprise. Patsy sounded so smug and sure of herself that it made me want to laugh at her, but I refrained, Though it wasn't the case for Jessica whose giggle turned into a full blown laugh that had her clutching her stomach.

I gave her a mirthful smile. "Hum, no Patsy your sister isn't going out with me. She's just my new best friend."

I was even surprised that she didn't have any prejudice against people who like others of the same sex. The 90's are supposed to be backward with people unable to see past their social programming. But I guessed that Patsy was an exception...

Patsy reeled once she realized her assumption was just that: an assumption. "What?! But all the signs were here! The smiles, the glances and how you are always so intimate."

Jessica and me looked at each other and, "Pfft." laughed at the conclusions of the poor little gal who looked embarrassed.

"Wow, you are observant but nah, I don't like Jess this way and she's not my type." I poked Patsy on the arm.

Patsy looked at me as if I was a puzzle she needed to solve, tilting her head with a frown. "You aren't even denying that you like girls."

I waved my hand at that in clear dismissal. "Please, why should I? I like men too, older ones not _boys_ and it's not like I hide my preferences. Why should I be afraid? I know a lot of people are intolerant, but I won't let them ruin me or how I lead my life."

"You are really brave, Jean." She grinned wide.

Shrugging, I poked her again, evoking a laugh out of her. Jess resumed eating her myself, I returned to my thoughts. I liked older and more mature men, those who knew what they had not the bundles of ego and hormones that teenagers were. This was one of the consequences of my melding with my other self, and I knew what the score was. So I will avoid the drama and let myself just being lusted after from afar, high-school didn't matter to me though it was still a good place to see who will be important in my quest for freedom and equality.

*And there were others things attracting me at school…* The face of a certain brown eyed asian girl came into mind.

Jessica snapped her fingers before my face and I flinched upon noticing the action. "What?"

"Ah she's back, what were you thinking about?" Relief was visible on her face. I frowned because I didn't intend to be this distracted before them. "About my situation and hum about the great reveal we must do. Patsy must know, but we will tell her when we are in the car. She won't be able to freak out too publically." I answered her, then I slurped on my milkshake but there wasn't any left. It made me sad.

With fiery eyes, Patsy looked at me. "Hey! Why would I freak out?!"

Giggling, I told her with gravitas in my voice, "Pat, I am going to change how you see this world."

**# # #**

When we embarked into my car it was in silence. Patsy and Jessica looked solemn, though the younger redhead was more curious. While I was preparing for the drive, Jessica stared at her step sister with apprehension in their seats. Patsy felt the gaze of her big sister on herself and saw the worry in her eyes, and automatically put a comforting hand on Jessica's arm.

The first thing Patsy did when she saw her step sister's distress was an attempt to put her at ease and my opinion of the younger girl rose up a notch. "See, Jess? Patsy is a good girl. She would never betray us."

Jessica didn't rebuff her sister, and just reddened and averted her eyes in a huff. "Fine…"

I decided to RIP the band aid, "So Patsy, before we _fly_ home we must tell you something about us two… We have superpowers."

The blissful silence remained for all about thirty seconds. There was surprise in her eyes, but the surprise was only directed at me. Then she looked finally at Jessica who braced herself for something or insults or for her sister to ask for proof. The reality was different though.

"Are you super strong like Jessie? " Patsy was curious.

This made me smile, like I knew she was already aware and never said anything to protect Jessica. Patsy was a really smart girl.

This caught Jessica by surprise though. "What?! How do you-"

Patsy giggled and patted Jessica's cheek twice. "You aren't as sneaky as you think, big sister."

Jessica was speechless, her mouth agape, and she double face palmed herself to conceal her embarrassment. Through my empathic ability I sensed the poor girl's belief in what she knew of Patsy being completely shattered, but I felt something else growing in her heart at the realization that Patsy was always in her camps: love. The sisterly kind.

I laughed. "I like your moxie, Pat. So you already know."

She flushed at the praise. "Yeah." She nodded. "So what can you do?"

She was a curious little thing, reminding me of a cat I had in my previous life- one who never left things alone.

"I can use telekinesis. " I flipped my long air as I looked at her.

"Like Carrie?" Patsy questioned, with a catch in her voice and a sliver of fear.

I knew it! Stephen King gave telekinetics a bad rep with his books, the fucker.

To reassure Patsy I said, "Oh dear, I can do so much more than killing bullying teens in a prom."I ignited my car.

In the mirror I saw her shock. Well ok what I said didn't reassure her at all. After that, we went to the nearest isolated alley and I turned the car invisible and launched it in the air. Patsy's eyes opened wide and she went silent for a long moment as she saw the landscape pass under us at high speeds. I estimate that I was going at 400 km/h, not too fast in my opinion.

"See Patsy, better than Carrie." My eyes briefly flashed behind me, to her. Patsy looked at me, then at Jess, who she held on with excitement as she jumped in her seat. "She can fly!"

Jessica was pale, clutching her security belt. Weird. So she was fine flying under her own power, but being in a flying vehicle bothered her?

"Jessica can fly too." I revealed, focusing on the route, noticing we were already on the George Washington bridge.

Patsy's eyes shined, as she asked, "You can?"

"Hum… yes." Jessica stammered upon being confronted by her sisters gaze which was filled with wonder.

Admiration swelled in the younger girl's heart, her respect increasing towards Jess. "Amazing!" Patsy cried out.

Using my augmented senses, I followed the landmarks that would take us home. I didn't raise the elevation more than twenty meters from the ground.

"We will be there in fifteen minutes."

Jessica looked at the road signs, noticing they headed outside Manhattan. "Hum, Jean how far do you live?"

As I needed to concentrate, I gave factual answers. I didn't want to crash us. "175 Km from the Queens in a place called Annandale-on-Hudson."

In their eyes, I saw questions forming. Jessica knew better than to ask, but Patsy didn't. "Why do you live so far!? Don't you have any nearby highschool?" She was a curious little thing.

There was no way that I would tell her I was avoiding nearby schools because of the severe bullying I endured till I was homeschooled at thirteen years old, and that I decided to go so far away that I had to go to high school in Forest Hills in Queens. Or that I choose our high school because I knew Jessica and Peter Parker went there.

"It's complicated…"

Patsy was going to insist, but Jessica came to my rescue. "Stop with the questions, Patsy. She's clearly bothered by them."

Patsy pouted. "But-"

To disarm any drama, I promised, "It's okay, I will tell you later, for now though I'm focused on flying. You don't want us to go splat on the ground, right?"

Jessica and Patsy shuddered at that and answered in unison, "No…"

"Good." I returned my attention to the road below me.

The girls went silent for a moment and continued to look outside the car, until they began to sort out their feelings. Jessica was happy that Patsy was having her back, and the younger redhead enjoyed the sensation of finally being acknowledged by her new big sister. It was so sweet that it gave me diabetes.

It took time, but we finally arrived near Barrytown, landing on the New York state route. I wanted to avoid landing in the college town proper still crawling with SHIELD Teams so I drove by land. We became visible again when arrived at the crossroad of Cedar Hill and Kelly road, I turned left on Cedar Hill and was almost home. We passed an unmarked van, and I recognized it as the one full of SHIELD agent.

*Hmm, I will see what they are about tonight.* I mused to myself.

Arriving home five minutes later, I parked the car beside dad's, and honked to signal my return. Mom would know who it is; she's nosy like that and know the exact way my car's honk. Stopping the car, Jessica and Patsy spilled out of the vehicle, took their bags and waited for me. I exited my Camaro, closed the car door, ran a hand in my hair and looked beatifically at my friend.

"Here, follow me girls." I walked up to the door.

My house was all frey and white bricks and two stories, as I opened the glass door, I entered and cried out, "Mom, I am here!"

"I know! Bring your friends in the living room!" Mom's voice came out from the far away.

Behind me, Jessica and Patsy followed with their duffel and shopping bags in their hands, I passed the stairs and found my parents waiting on the sofa with snacks and drinks on the low table. Mom and dad stood up and welcomed the girls.

"Welcome to our humble abode." Dad made a grand sweeping gesture with his arm that made me cringe.

He was a bit of a dork, but his heart was in the right place and he was a good dad because I wanted for nothing. But sometimes he would do cringey things like just now, mom rolled her eyes at him and the girls giggled at his silliness.

"Good afternoon, everyone." Mom graced them with a smile.

Jessica sheepishly waved at my parents. "Hi."

Patsy walked up to them, shaking their hands. "Hello."

Mom grinned at Patsy, liking her manners. "You must be Jessica and Patsy, nice to meet you. You know, Jean has been talking about you to us."

The girls turned, looking at me with sly smiles. I averted my eyes in embarrassment. Sue me, they are my first friends since ever!

"Hum, ok?" Jessica wrangled her hands, still nervous.

It was my first time seeing her like this; she was completely confident with me, but before adults she became that awkward kid. *How strange.*

"Don't be nervous girls. We don't bite." Dad tried reassuring.

"Technically, you do dad." I averted my eyes, my smile enigmatic. The bite marks adorning mom's skin showed me that he was into rough sex… My father looked at me and- honest to god- he reddened, making mom giggle. Jessica groaned, understanding what was said, whereas Patsy had an oblivious expression etched on her face as the innuendo was lost on her. *She's so innocent.*

During the introductions with Patsy and Jessica, the phone rang and dad went to take it. Mom was curious about the girls; she thought Jessica was a good girl but pitied her a bit from what I had told her previously, and she decided that she would pamper her in the place of her parents. She was also thrilled about getting to know Patsy who seemed to relish her attention. Dad came back, apprehensive as he looked at me. He hesitated to speak, feeling like an eel but he soldiered on. I frowned.

"Jeany, there's Charles Xavier on the phone he wishes to speak with you." Dad didn't want me to not accept, what with me clearly lacking respect for the man.

Tensing at the name dad pronounced, Jessica looked at me. Then I rolled my eyes. "I really don't want to…"

"Jean…" Mom's tone of voice was laced with warning, and she leaned forward, shooting me a meaningful stare.

She didn't understand how much I loathed the man. He was one of the catalysts for my life to end. If she knew, would she look at me this way? And then there was a certain curiosity in me, why would the baldie call me? I sure hoped that it wasn't related to certain of my activities...

*Fine, I will go.* I retorted in my heart.

"But I am intrigued, so I will." I added, standing up from the sofa. Jessica and Patsy stared at me in obvious curiosity. Walking up to the telephone, I asked myself what was going to change this time in my life? Was Marvel going to make it more difficult?

**# # #**

**(Professor Charles Xavier)**

**Salem/X-Mansion**

Charles Xavier was still on the phone when he heard the telephone handset being picked up. He looked at the photos on his cedar desk showing the first mutants he helped, when he dubbed his first class. Then, as he lost himself into memory lane, the door to his study opened and a well built man entered. His unique hairstyles consisted of mutton chop sideburns and his height was at least 1.80m. He was rather hirsute, wearing a dark blue shirt and brown pants.

Charles smiled at his friends who sat before his desk, took a cigar out of the pocket of his shirt, and with a slow and careful movement made a thirty centimeters long retractable bone claw covered of metal cut it. Then took a lighter and lit it. Charles didn't like how much Logan relied on those, but to everyone his poison.

"Hello professor." A young, silky female voice greeted him.

Charles tensed, closing his eyes. . Jean Grey was one of the most powerful Telepath and Telekinetic he had come to know. She was a good young woman when surrounded by her family, but a dangerous young woman to cross; there was also the fact that she knew things about him he never told anyone and he feared that she may have subtly pierced his telepathic shield and learned of his secrets.

She was unpredictable, dangerous and willing to dirty her hands; Jean Grey reminded him strongly of Erik Lensherr, his friend and that was a big concern of his.

"Good afternoon, Jean. It is good to hear your voice." Charles tried feigning a normal tone, hoping she didn't catch the slight hitch of nervousness in it. 

"Aww, prof you flatter me." Jean cooed with a honeyed voice. "So, what's the occasion? Is this still about joining the school? I told you I couldn't right now though." The young woman seemed more affable to Charles as if distance and time had mellowed her since their first meeting, though he could tell the girl still hated him.

Logan could hear the threat lingering in her voice due to his acute sense, and put himself at attention in his seat while frowning at Charles. The professor closed his eyes, counting to ten. He didn't know why she hated him; it was beyond a dislike of his attempt to read her mind. Charles hoped to help guide this girl and maybe bring her into the fold- he couldn't let his friend, Magneto recruit her.

In some twisted sense, Charles was happy that she still thought about the institute as it meant she was interested, but playing hard to get or some such. He remembered how her eyes shone when she heard about the danger room.

He smiled. "Unfortunately, it is another matter that made me call you Jean. But I am not at ease speaking about it through the phone…"

Charles heard her unladylike snort. "Yeah, SHIELD might be tapping the landlines."

Charles gasped, a sheen of sweat appearing on his forehead. "Jean, how…?"

*How does she know about SHIELD?*

The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division, better known by its acronym **S.H.I.E.L.D.**, was an American extra-governmental military counter-terrorism and intelligence agency, tasked with maintaining both national and global security. It was a secret organization that he encountered after helping Peggy Carter with an _enhanced _threat like she called them.

"Come on, prof. I am a telepath." Jean's tone was snide. "So, when are we going to have a meet-together?"

Charles pondered over it as he leaned into his chair, tapping his fingers against his armchair for a few beats. "Are you available this Sunday?" He finally asked.

For a moment, there was silence at the other end of the phone and then, "Oh, I will make it so. I am curious about what you want to discuss." The young woman seemed to be intrigued.

They discussed curtly after that, then Jean gave the address of a bakery cafe in her college town, choosing it as the location for their meeting. Charles then hung up, sighing heavily because of the tense call.

"What's got into you, Chuck?" A gruff voice asked from the other end of his desk.

After the tension bled from Charles' body, he looked at the man and asked him, "Logan. I will need you tomorrow, I hope you have nothing planned my friend."

The man shrugged. "Sure, I can come."

**# # #**

**(Jessica Jones)**

**14:32 PM****  
****Annandale-on-Hudson****  
****Grey House**

Jessica landed on the green lawn ass first, then spent thirty seconds looking at the blue sky. This has been happening for the third time since they had decided to brush up on her new martial art skills that Jean had graciously helped her obtain. The punk-rock girl quickly and agilely got back on her feet. Jean had waited for her to stand up.

"Still want more?" Jean asked sweetly.

She scowled, but this time refused to let her temper take charge. Instead she remained calm and collected. *Stop panicking *

"You know how to move, Jess, but you have never got into a fight for your life. I will come at you as if I wanted to kill you, okay?" Jean was in a combat stance.

Snort. "As if you could-"

The redhead simply disappeared from view, and Jessica felt a hand grip her arm and as fast as she could she lashed out by doing an automatic shoulder throw on her foe. Jean was sent into the air thanks to Jessica's super strength and inner control of her balance but the redhead caught her by her white T-shirt, reoriented herself and did her own projection throw of the pink haired girl who stopped herself from getting on the ground again by hovering one meter from the ground. But she didn't anticipate Jean's next move, the redhead punched her in the stomach and forced her to land on the ground.

"You do not anticipate the moves of your enemy, you just follow a series of movements." Jean reprimanded.

"It kind of hurt right now…" Jessica whimpered.

Jean approached her friend, not daring to help her yet. But she was still worried about her. "Hum, did I go too strong?"

Jessica raised her T-shirt and on her abs a purple emathome was visibly fading on the skin of her abdomen. "Nah, it was at the level of a… slap? Have you ever been slapped?"

The pink haired girl saw a hurt expression briefly appear on her face and disappear as swiftly. "Yeah, I was. I restrained myself at the level you used at the Junkyard." The redhead nodded.

"It still hurts." Jessica chuckled but a grimace appeared on her face.

Jessica looked at Jean, she looked sorry at the moment, she smiled and threw her leg around her friend's waist and then it was the redhead's turn to be on the ground, straddled by Jessica who slapped her. The slap rang into the air and the spectator, Patsy and Elaine (Jean's mom) who said 'ouch' in unison. Jessica tried hard to not focus on what she was going to do to fool her telepath friends, she knew Jean was able to anticipate some of her movements.

Scowling, Jean tried to struggle."You little-"

But she was quickly held on Jean's arms, their face was really close. Jessica laughed as she restrained her friend. "Cheating is good."

"You two need a room." Patsy's voice pulled the two friends from their banter.

"I see, so it's like that, Jean?" Elaine teased.

Jean and Jessica quickly disentangled themselves from each other, the two even stood at three meters from each other. Jessica firmly scowled at her sister who smirked at her. As for Jean she didn't want her mom to know about her sexuality.

"Jean don't worry, I know that you like girls too." Elaine smiled and waved at her daughter.

To Jessica, there was no judging or disapproval in her expression, this was a woman who accepted her kid as she was. She didn't want to try to change her, no like Alisa Jones her step mother acted.

With a look of surprise, Jean asked, "Wait, how?"

"I'm not blind, and let's say it runs in the family if you know what I mean." Elaine had a sly smile on her face and she took a suggestive pose.

"Mom! TMI!" The redhead looked majorly embarrassed and averted her eyes from her mother.

"Poor Jeany is embarrassed. Let's continue, who wants to see baby photos of Jean?" Elaine turned to Patsy and then to Jessica. The older woman proceeded to then run into the house, certainly to go look for photos albums.

"Don't you dare!" Jean cried, and followed her mother.

The rest of the day passed in such a fashion, Jean's parents were carefree and loved her. They also showed their appreciation to Jessica and Patsy for becoming friends with her, Elaine had taken the pink haired girl aside to the back garden, they sat on the garden chairs and the housewife began to tell her thank you to offer her friendship to Jean, then Elaine proceeded to give her some context of her daughter's situation; some incident happened in primary school when Jean awakened to her powers and her so called friends turned their backs on her and since then she has been bullied till she was in eighth grade.

"Jean? Bullied? I can't believe it." Was the reaction of Jessica.

Jean was strong, beautiful and smart; even though she was all alone in school like the pink haired girl was nothing touched her, rumors and gossip slid off her, she was the second smartest girl after Gwen Stacy scholastically. To Jessica, the girl was breezing through high school and leaving everyone in the dust as if she didn't care about anyone and knew what she wanted.

Elaine just shattered the perfect picture she had of her friend. The older woman looked at the pink haired girl with a knowing eye. "You only know the strong willed, funny and caring Jean. But… let's just say that she can be an acerbic shrew when she wants."

Jessica remembered the time when Jean humiliated the cheerleading squad's captain when she accused her of trying to steal her boyfriend. The redhead smashed her accusation by telling her to look at her slutty friends first before slandering another person, and that she should leash her manwhore of a boyfriend who seems to be obsessed with knocking up girls.

It was later revealed that the degenerate had gone through half the girls in the squad and knocked up three of them. No one messed with Jean anymore after that, all asking how she knew about their situation and such. Now that Jessica knew that Jean was a Telepath, she knew how and it made her laugh. She treated idiotic and sheep-like teenagers like leper and was reluctant to interact with them. Jessica had been really surprised when she wanted to associate with her.

"Hum, yeah… I saw how she treats people at school. They call her _perfect Jean_ and things like that." Jessica crossed her arms under her breast, she was in her leggings and sport bra, having let Elaine put her T-shirt in the laundry basket.

Elaine suddenly looked like she has sucked on a lemon. "Urgh, it has started in another school, huh."

Jessica tilted her head, she didn't like what that comment insinuated. "How many schools has she been going through, Mrs Grey?"

Elaine looked at her garden and rose bushes in remembrance. "This will be the sixth." She sighed heavily.

After a minute of silence, Jessica wanted to assuage the worries of Jean's mom, the woman seemed genuinely concerned for her daughter. She looked older at this moment.

"I don't think she wants to change, you know." Jessica took Elaine's hands in hers. "I'm going to take care of her for you when she's not with you, don't worry ok?"

Elaine took in the serious expression of Jessica, a smile split her face and she nodded. Jessica then stood up and Elaine did the same and they entered the house, sure that they now understood Jean a little better.

**# # #**

Later that same night, after a fulfilling dinner, the girls prepared for some movies. They were in the game/movie room on the lime green sofa facing the big TV screen with the shelves full of video tapes.

Jessica was stunned by the choices that were available for them, _Pocahontas_, _Judge Dredd_ and _Mortal Kombat_ in VHS. She had thought that Jean would have more… girly tastes, like _While you were whispering_ with Sandra Bullock or _To die for_ with Nicole Kidman.

Once again, she discovered things about her friend that she assumed to be a bit like some Queen Bee, but no, Jean wasn't tied down to mere stereotypes. She was just so much more than a beautiful young woman, she was also a fighter and active girl. Jessica had seen in Jean's bedroom all those books she had, ranging from history, psychology and philosophy, science fiction and fantasy. The pink haired girl had felt that she wasn't worthy to hang out with Jean, she wasn't as smart or knowledgeable, she had nothing going for her.

"Jess, stop this." Jean's voice interrupted Jessica's train of thoughts.

Green eyes met brown eyes, and Jessica asked nervously, "What?"

*You have no privacy when you are friends with a telepath.* Jessica lamented.

Jean continued to look at her disapprovingly. "You are my friend, stop comparing yourself to me. You are Jessica Jones, you are a tough girl with a heart of gold. Here let me show you." The redhead just put a hand on her cheek and suddenly they were not in the game room anymore.

Jessica was facing herself and Jean, it was an out of body experience. The pink haired girl looked at hands and body weirdly. Patsy was still choosing which movie to watch, unconcerned by what was happening. Jean appeared at her side, surrounded by a red halo in the form of a bird around her, she had wings that spanned beyond the entire room.

The pink haired girl looked from herself to Jean and asked, "Did you just push me out of my body?"

"Yes, it was to show you this…" Jean conjured a mirror out of thin air and suddenly Jessica saw herself.

Not exactly, she saw deep into her being. The gentleness encased into a steel core and diverse layer of her own being. It was exhilarating and… scary. But Jessica didn't panic, as Jean wouldn't be showing this facet of her powers without good intent.

With a radiant smile, Jean explained this to her friend. "This, this is one of the things that made me want to befriend you. You'd never betray me, you are a good person. I have never met someone like you before, you know."

*Was this how Jean saw people all the time? Now I understand why she dismisses most people if they are immature petty assholes and they appear ugly to her.* Jessica's thoughts were clear to Jean, the redhead giggled when she heard her.

"I see.. Wow, this is a lot to take in." Jessica averted her eyes from the radiant form of Jean.

Jean shrugged. "Well, at least you know yourself a bit more. Jess, just stay you, ok? I mean it, you don't have to change yourself to hang out with me. I'd never turn on you, right?"

"Look at us being all sappy…" Tears fell down Jessica's cheek.

This was the first time someone beside her parents and Patsy showed they cared about her, Jean wasn't the kind of girl who made shallow relationships. Now, Jessica knew that Jean wasn't just friends with her, but loved her; Jean has an incredible capacity for love and genuinely concerned about the welfare and happiness of not only those nearest and dearest.

Jean felt what Jessica was thinking and feeling, she seemed a bit embarrassed. "Right, l-let's stay there for a while till you calm down." The redhead hugged her friend.

Jessica felt herself being wrapped in the warmth of her friend. "Okay."

It was five minute later when they returned to their body and Patsy chose to watch Mortal Kombat, on the sofa Jessica leaned against Jean and they seemed as close as possible.

**# # #**

**23:15 PM**

I don't know how to take what happened, but it's glorious. Staring at my own sleeping body was kind of strange, so I could astral project? That was news to me, but it wasn't that surprising anymore. This is better than watching myself from the mirror, I could even remote control my body by watching from a higher point of view; this was another branch ability born from my mental detection field.

Patsy slept on a mattress on the ground, and Jessica spooned my body, her arms wrapped around my middle. I flushed slightly. She was my friend who didn't like me in a romantic way, but wow did it feel good to be in her arms. Shaking my head, I forced my mind out the gutter. *Jessica wasn't a toy to feel good. Bad Jeanie.*

I turned my head to the outside, looking beyond the window of my bedroom; something out there called to me. The voice was muffled, but powerful. *Who was it?*

Despite myself, I was thrown into the air and passed through the ceiling, the attic and then the roof. I was in the sky and suddenly a portal gobbled me up. I put my arms before my head and closed my eyes in fear. For a long moment, nothing happened, and I opened my eyes to see a really weird landscape around me… if you could call this landscape.

It was like I was into space, surrounded by a myriad of little planetoids and other non-descript objects. I knew where I was and it scared me. I was totally in the **Astral Plane**. From my knowledge, the _Astral Plane_ was an alternate dimension in an equivalent space to our own, where all matter is composed of ectoplasm. *Yuck, I hope it's not like in Ghostbusters.*

I saw a little planetoid, about the same size as my hometown, with a tree smackdab in the middle of it, and decided to take it. It will be **mine**. Then I frowned; why do I think this way? Was someone influencing me? Upon that thought, a bright red, yellow and orange light shone at the periphery of my eyes and I looked up.

As I touched foot with the ectoplasm, wrought planetoid, the colored light coalesced into a ball and sped toward my planetoid, striking the tree in the middle. It fired up, but the tree didn't burn.

*Shit, it's you!*

Damn it, how did the Phoenix find me? Why this early? A bird took form from the flame and perched on one of the tree branches. It stared at me. I felt judged, analyzed and prodded. My mental shield were like tissue paper to the Phoenix Force, making me feel insignificant towards it.

_You are not ready yet._ A female voice, similar to my own, rang into the vast space.

"Excuse me?" I asked aloud, confused by what the force was telling me.

_You don't have any control over yourself yet, return from where you came._ The Raptor of fire commanded. She simply beat a wing and I found myself ejected from the astral plane, the portal opened behind me and I returned to my own house and in my body.

Opening my eyes, I trembled.

*This is why I don't think I am one of the top dogs in this fucking universe, she just moved and I am back…*

The Phoenix Force could influence me, and that worried me. From her comment, I knew she was waiting. Waiting for me to be at my peak and powerful enough for.. does she want to make me an avatar like in canon? Will I have to leave my family and Earth? *I won't let it, in some ways I am sure I can make a deal with it! I don't want to leave mom, dad and Jess!*

When I accidentally linked my mind to Annie's to keep her soul to moving from the afterlife, the Phoenix had interfered and broke my connection with her, sending me back as it did now. I didn't think it would happen again, as I thought that I wouldn't be a Phoenix host in this dimension, but it seems in every reality our fates were linked.

I stopped thinking about my first failure, about failing to save my best friend. With a heavy sigh I turned my head to the alarm clock, seeing it was only **23:20 PM**. *Bullshit! Only five minutes passed?!*

It had felt like hours that I discovered my planetoid and the tree. But… it's not impossible, after all, everything that happen telepathically do so at the speed of thought. Yes, I have more to learn about my own power.

The Phoenix force is watching me… I closed my eyes to sleep, this dreadful realization haunting me.

**# # #**

**Sunday 10th 1996****  
****Annandale-on-hudson****  
****Chez Leanne cafe****  
****08:01 AM**

After waking up to the sound of Jessica's cute snoring, I went to do some jogging, alongside her and Patsy. Saying that those two weren't morning people was clear. They couldn't follow my rhythm so I had to go slower than normal and when we got back from our run, mom had a giant breakfast for us. The girls were gluttons, but I understood them. Mom's food was too good to pass up!

Charles Xavier called back at six AM to say he was coming at eight AM or so at the place we planned to meet up at. I had to prepare for it. Dressing into a black cropped top, I paired it with the leather skirt I bought at Etsy yesterday with Jessica and Patsy. To finish, I wore my red leather jacket and red ankle, leather boots. Mom and Patsy took turns to help me with my makeup while Jessica listened to music, singing alongside the punk band I wasn't familiar with.

Now after all those preparations, I waited at the end of the table in Leanne's cafe, which was also a bakery. I seated myself in a place I could monitor who came in and went, and there was the service exit not too far. Those habits of checking the field had been born rather recently, after I replicated the knowledge and skills of Katherine Shane from SHIELD.

I had my Walkman and headphones on for this trip, listening to some Destiny's Child, with one of Leanne's cappuccino with a croissant. The cafe was full of students and teaching staff taking sunday to rest or complete their work. It had been hard to find a free table, but nothing that a mental compulsion couldn't do. Jean made a bunch of giggling girl leave for her to have her coffee in peace and wait for Xavier.

It was 08:05 AM when I saw a car pull up in the parking lot before the cafe- a Rolls Royce's to be precise. The driver who exited the car was strangely familiar, wearing a black shirt with brown jeans and boots, looking like a no nonsense guy with black hair, a yummy body, but then I realized...*What was Hugh Jackman doing here?*

Oh my god! Is that Wolverine? Xavier brought Wolverine here! This is awesome! Huh, he is taking Charles out of the car, okay Some cars aren't rated for disabled people and that's a shame. But I took a sadistic pleasure in seeing the man suffer. Don't get me wrong I liked the guy when I was younger in my other life, but as I analyzed his actions as I got older and with a lot of debate on the internet and forums, I realized that Charles Xavier was a peaceful man who did nothing and was content to watch the world burn around him with the ones he surrounded himself with.

There was no way that I would do so. I want my freedom and the world to stay as it is, and if I had to kill the people who I know would make it Hell on earth? *So be it.*

The man kept too many secrets, secrets that could save the lives of people surrounding him but he chose to do nothing; about what he did to me in most realities that I know of, it was inexcusable. Just days ago, he was about to enter my mind without asking. *The man wasn't that different from Magneto, they are not friends for nothing.*

Charles Xavier, followed by Wolverine, entered the cafe. Rolling in his wheelchair, the bald man in an expensive clothing found Jean at the most isolated table, and beamed at her. Jean rolled her eyes, taking a swig of her coffee. Wolverine frowned at her, helping wheel Charles to her table.

Jean, as she was well, raised up and came to greet the two men, beginning with Charles. "Good morning professor."

Looking at me appraisingly, the man offered me a smile. "Hello Jean, you are devilishly beautiful as usual."

I tilted my head, that was really gentlemanly of him of saying so, "Aww Prof, don't be such a Don Juan, you could be my grandad."

Embarrassed, Xavier loosened his black tie, lowering his eyes. "Hum, very well, but I was just being honest."

My gaze moved to Logan's, who looked so rugged and feral. I asked myself what he was like in bed. *Down Jean! Those fucking hormones are frying your brain.*

"And who is this **handsome** man behind you?" I was shocked at the purr in my voice.

Logan simply raised an eyebrow at me, holding out his hand to greet me. My heart skipped a few beats, and I clasped his hand with mine, holding it for some time as I looked into his piercing gaze.

"My name is Jean Grey." I introduced myself first after an awkwardly long time.

"Logan." He simply said in his baritone voice which made me wet instantly.

As I held onto him, his feelings seeped into me, and just like usual I saw his inner self, which was the same thing that happened with Jessica and other people. He had animalistic tendencies, honor and such a selfless soul that it made me relish being in his presence.

"You are such a sweet guy…" I couldn't help but saying as I held onto his hand.

"Jean… are you reading his thoughts?" The annoying professor pointed out, causing Logan to retract his hands fast, as though I was a snake or such. He stared at me with distrust. I found that sad, my heart breaking just a bit.

To assuage his fear, I decided to explain myself. "No, I see him through my empathy. He is a good man, weary and lost, there's this feral side of him which scares me just a little bit but it is harnessed to protect- not for destruction."

I looked at Logan in the eyes and bluntly asked, "I, uh… are you married?"

The man sniffed the air, then looked at me from head to toe. His distrustful feelings which I felt coming from him melted into consideration, then into amusement touched by interest, but I also felt that he denied himself.

He smiled at me and sighed. "Girl, I am not a cradle robber… but come back to me in another two years if you are free."

I snapped my fingers and smiled back at him. "Damn, I finally found a good guy and I am too young…"

Seeing the professor roll his eyes, with a gaze full of reprimand was new to me."Can you two stop flirting?" He seemed cranky.

I smirked at him.

"Don't be a downer Chuck. The girl and I were just having a little fun." Logan patted the professor's shoulder.

"Professor, let's take a seat, fortunately I see you brought your own." Everyone stopped moving as I insulted the man.

Then I realized what I said, and I couldn't believe it. Xavier looked at me with a disappointed expression. Despite me, I apologized, "I am… that was disrespectful, sorry. My mouth gets ahead of me sometimes. I shouldn't let my dislike of you color our every interaction. "

Xavier leaned in his seat, taking on a grandfatherly expression, his eyes kind, suddenly making me feel like an eel. "Jean, I don't understand why you are this hostile with me. I know we didn't start well, but sometimes there are things that shouldn't be said, lines that shouldn't be crossed."

As hard as it is to me to say it, the guy is right.

"I-it won't happen again. When I am going to make a snide comment I will try to time it better." I reluctantly answer.

Xavier pinched his nose at that. It seemed that I gave him a headache. "Jean, that's not the point."

I wanted to laugh at him, but I refrained, then I stared at the delicious piece of man-meat at the professor's side; Logan looked at the interplay in silence, damn I hoped I didn't make him think the worse of me…

"Aww, okay. But seriously, sorry. Mocking you about your disability makes me feel like a bitch... You know, I hope one day I might be of help about that kind of thing, after all I had a dream and I plan to start a company in medical technology."

This surprised Xavier who looked at me with interest, and then he reminded himself of something. "Why would you help me?"

I may hate the guy, but I wasn't a complete psycho.

Averting my eyes, I reluctantly explained, "We may have our differences professor, but you still do good. I know you've been helping our people for decades with Erik Lensherr- your counterpart. "

Shaking his head Xavier kept silent, and then suddenly a waitress came. She wore a classy uniform and asked what everyone wanted. I ordered a cake, the other two ordered coffee. Then, the young waitress left with a smile staring long at Logan. *Shit, sister he is my prey!* I glared at her retreating silhouette as she rolled her hips.

I keep rolling my eyes, Logan smiled at the show, and Xavier kept looking at me, and he finally spoke to me. "Like I thought you read my mind, Jean."

Not at all, I just know about you from another universe where you are just a fictional character... is what I cannot say.

"Not really. I saw things. Flash of memories and visions." I lied through my teeth. "This is something I can't control, some things get past my mental shield."

Xavier looked worried suddenly, and through my empathy I knew he was remembering something from his past. He stared at me long, and with an eager expression he spoke, "I see, Jean if you need help we could schedule some mental training…"

I scowled, that was never going to happen, his help might consist of entering my mind and there were things in there that he would try to capture me for.

"No."

Xavier closed his eyes and wore a depreciating smile."You still don't trust me."

I shook my head, indeed I don't. "I don't professor. You are the kind of man I am wary of, you have too many secrets for everyone around you that will bite you in the ass and a _flexible_ sense of ethics. By example, Logan here, or should I say James Howlett."

"Who?" Logan said before holding his head painfully.

*I knew this would happen.* I took one of his hands and began to talk to him soothingly. "Logan, you real name is James Howlett, I saw a photo of you in the history books with the Howling commando. You worked with Captain America."

"Jean, how do you know this? I looked everywhere…"

"I have an eidetic memory, professor." I simply said to cover my knowledge and it was true as I never forgot anything. "In one of the visions I told you about, I saw you and Lensherr meeting him when you were younger. Can I say that you looked really hot in the seventies?" I tried to deflect the attention from my knowledge and dissemble about the information.

The old man facepalmed, groaning. "Jean…"

It was funny to see the Patrick Stewart lookalike do that action. Logan massaged his temples, and suddenly said aloud, "I-I need to go professor, I need fresh air. Memories flooded my mind and I don't know what to make of them. "

He then looked at me, not knowing what to think of little old me.

*Aww.* I wanted to hug him.

"Your welcome James, I hope you'll forgive my bluntness." I shot him a dazzling smile. I waved at him.

"Call me Logan." He stood up and left.

After this, it was me and the professor at the table, the waitress came with our orders and placed them before us, but she was sad to see that slogan was outside.

*Slut.*

Xavier observed me as I munched on my chocolate cake. Though it was time to speed through this farce. "So can we get to the point of this little meeting? Cause I'm bored from blowing people's minds." I quipped.

Xavier raised an eyebrow at me. "Right… hmm, Jean how do you know about SHIELD?" Xavier started; it seemed I rubbed him wrong.

I hoped that next time that he would stop seeking me out, as that's why I acted this way with him.

Snorting, I told him as if it was obvious, "They are everywhere in my hometown, and the agents' minds are loud. And one night I had enough of skulking in the dark and wanted to know what was going on, so I riffled through the mind of a high level agent."

Charles Xavier had a look of shock plastered on his face. "Jean, what about their privacy?"

*Ah right, he is a hypocritical goodie goodie.* I harrumphed and shrugged, "So? I ascertained their threat level and I wanted to know if they were after me or something."

Xavier looked at me as though I sprouted two heads or something, then he continued his interrogation, because yeah it felt just like one and I didn't like that at all. "What do you know about what brought them here?"

It seemed I had to lie again, fortunately, I had complete control of my body thanks to my telekinesis. I steadied my heartbeat and my stolen training as an agent gave me clues about how to turn an interrogation in my favor.

Facing the professor I leaned forward, gazing into his eyes with a thoughtful tone. "Well let's say someone is piling up bodies, which are made into vegetables? I'm not sure, but I think someone is cloning people and as they are brain-dead when they develop, I think they dispose of them in the neighborhood…"

"This is certainly a good theory." The professor still seemed suspicious of me. Still, I felt that I put his fear of me being involved in this mess to rest, barely, but he must be thinking that I still hid something from him.

*I actually do.* I laughed in my mind.

I decided to feign being insulted. Crossing my arms before me, I scowled at Xavier. "Was this all? Did you suspect me of turning people into vegetables, Professor?"

Xavier seemed ill at ease under my gaze and averted my eyes. "You are one of the primary suspects." He confessed.

"You wound me professor. I know we didn't have a great start but… I'm not such a psycho you know. Did you tell SHIELD about me?" I simulated a crack in my voice as I said this and tried to look nervous.

The professor was still wary of me, I could see it in his stoic expression. *What a paranoid bastard.*

"No, Jean." He shook his head and placed his hands before him.

We stayed silent for a while as I finished my slice of cake, Xavier sipped onto his coffee and continued to observe me. As for me, my brain went into overdrive as I analyzed how Xavier learned about the bodies and suddenly it clicked.

Looking at him, I began to speak in a thoughtful tone. "I surmise that you have friends in this organization and that's why you were tipped off. Then they asked you if there was one of our _people_ in the area, I do hope for you that you weren't followed, professor…"

This bout of insight in how he came to contact me seemed to have taken by surprise. "I didn't think about that…" He looked thoughtful.

The guy was a nonce, and I had to get out of here.

"It was almost nice meeting you professor." Taking one last bite of my cake, I rose. Xavier looked apologetic. "Jean I am sure there's no reason to worry." He tried assuring.

My voice was calm yet cold when I spoke. "Prof, I was in the mind of one of SHIELD's top agents, I know how they think and operate."Then I added for good measure, "Don't call me. I will call you, capiche?"

He flinched as he looked into my eyes. I don't know what he saw but he quickly answered, "Crystal."

I nodded. "Bye and take care." Then I turned on my heel, storming out of the cafe. My telekinetic field was at its optimum, enveloping me. I felt my psionic energy fill me and focused my senses around me. Trees, people, polluted air, cars and finally nondescript ones and black. I stretched my mental field and yes indeed, those were SHIELD's flunkies. I deployed a notice-me-not field around me and zipped toward them and opened their car's door by manipulating the mechanical system in them with my TK and then forced them to sleep with a compulsion. As everyone ignored us beside Xavier, I began to shift through their mind, and when I found what I wanted began to erase the last thirty minutes from their memories.

"Wow okay, so Peggy Carter is still Director in this dimension. What am I going to do?" I asked myself as I became invisible. I zipped at super speed through the streets, leaving the agents.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 5**

**Monday 11th, 1996**  
**Queens, Forest Hills**  
**Midtown High School**  
**08:35 AM**

I was still worried about my meeting with Professor Xavier, but fortunately Patsy and Jessica took my mind off it. They were like a balm on my soul when I came back and found the SHIELD agents who followed the professor, I recognized that I became a bit paranoid on the way home.

Needless to say, they stayed all sunday, watching movies, indulging in gossip, and helping mom with the laundry. I introduced Patsy to martial arts by loading Jeet Kune Do into her mind and speaking about the future. I told them about people like me and my plan to save them. Jessica became interested, though I didn't think Patsy understood very well, but she accepted us without malice, besotted by our super powers. That girl was an angel. Really.

After jogging, and consuming a huge breakfast, we took turns in the bathroom. Let's just say I am happy that my big sister moved out of the house long ago as sharing everything in the house with other girls has become a chore. It took us forever to prepare ourselves and then leave for school at six AM.

We were early when we arrived and the girls had time to return to their house, retrieving their bags and books. Alisa Jones, Jessica and Patsy's mom was happy to see them back. Then, we were quickly out of the house and headed for the school.

I parked my car, noticing we weren't the first to arrive at the parking lot. We watched as the yellow and black school bus was being emptied of students. Focusing my visions, I saw a certain fairylike blonde coming down, followed by Peter Parker aka emo Pete who wore black clothes. Was he goth?

"What's wrong?" Jessica's voice pulled me out of my spying.

Flipping my hair, I looked at her. "Just someone I must talk to. Do you know anything about Gwen Stacy?"

Jessica tilted her head, a stray lock of hair covering her face. She blew it out of her face as she thought hard. "Gwen, Gwen? Oh, ah yeah she's the smart cookie."

I nodded. "Yeah, I want to invite her to our circle of friends. " Leaning on the drivers wheel, I waited for the obligatory question to come from either one of them.

"Why?" This time it was Patsy who intervened.

"I spoke about my dream, right?"

The two of them nodded. I gathered my thoughts for a second before explaining what I felt about the little blonde. "I c-can literally feel how smart she is with my telepathy… She's truly smarter than anyone else in the school- even more so than other teachers. When I open my company, I want her in it. Just like I want you to help."

Jessica was surprised that she was brought into the conversation this way. "Jean, I ain't smart enough.." She said, shaking her head vehemently.

Placing a hand on her arm, I shot her a smile. "Jess, don't worry I have a plan for you. We will talk about them in detail later. I must go find a place to speak to Stacy. You want to follow?"

I opened the car door from my side.

She nodded. "Sure."

The girl was just curious about how I would approach Gwen. I turned my head to the other redhead in the car. "Patsy come with us."

Patsy rolled her eyes. "As if I would let you leave me aside Jeany." She exited the car first.

Once outside, the girls flanked me and we slowly walked toward the entrance where a certain blonde girl spoke to a black haired boy. Her smile was dazzling. Despite me, my heart skipped a beat. She was terribly cute and really my type. No one came in my way; this is one of the effects you have when you are sorta popular, beside tongue-tiedness, heart palpitation or outright fear. Let's just say that I don't have a good reputation in this establishment.

The jocks avoided me, the bees retreated in fear from any tongue lashing from me. It was cool as there was no one to annoy me.

We arrived at the stair's rail and the blonde fairy looked at me, and I stared at her. Raising my hand, I waved at her. "Hi."

She made an awkward wave. "Hum, hi."

Peter who was at her side shot me a poisonous look, *Wow, calm down buster.*

"You are Gwen, right?" I asked the cute blonde.

Of course she was, as I especially looked for her, Jessica and Peter when I joined this school.

"Last time I checked my ID. " She rolled her eyes.

*OMG, she has sass!* My heart thumped faster in my ribcage.

I plastered on my most beautiful smile. "I'm Jean. Jean Grey."

Her green eyes were evaluating me, and it was clear she was deciding if she should listen to the rumors about me or making her own judgment. "I know who you are."

"Hum, well I wanted to…"

"What are you doing here, Grey?" A bothersome voice interrupted me.

I wasn't surprised to see that Emo Pete was yet again being rude to me. He had been like that since I tried to speak to him last week. It made me snort, and I decided to ignore him. His face darkened when I did so.

"So, Gwen someone told me that you are good at Biochemistry." I began without preamble.

She took on a thoughtful expression, leaning against the rail. "Hum, who?"

Well, I can't just tell her that I knew this information from comics books about her and Pete. "Most of the geeks in school." I quickly answered.

She nodded, accepting my answer. Gwen does indeed pass a lot of her time with a lot of people from Computer science and physics classes. She straightened her purple cardigan as she waited for me to continue.

*I want to gobble her up, she's so adorable.* I observed her, liking what I saw. It wasn't just her mannerisms and body that attracted me, but that big brain; she kept working on a project at the same time she was speaking to me.

I began with my offer. "Say, I have a project in mind and I wanted to know if you would be interest-"

"She isn't." Peter intervened again.

I stared at him. Today he wore black baggy t-shirt and pants with a brown jacket, and had bags under his eyes. My mind reached for his and what I saw was that he was beginning his spiderman patrol each night already. Oh and he doesn't like me at all, and see me as the enemy when it concerns the girl he loves.

*Aww, he is in love with Gweny. Too bad I'm hot for her too.* the assholish emo was getting on my nerves.

I noticed a thread of annoyance in Gwen's thought.

Capitalizing on it, I asked,"Does he speak for you, Gwen?"

"Certainly not." Gwen turned to him. "What's gotten into you Pete?"

The boy looked surprised by what was happening. He didn't understand what he was doing, and he clearly offended her by presuming he could choose for her who she interacts with. Poor bastard. I didn't care anyway.

"Come on, Gwen. She's hitting on you, I don't-" He tried to say as he glared at me.

But my new favorite little fairy took the wind out of his sails. "And is it your business if she does?" Gwen asked in a threatening tone.

I laughed in my heart. *Come on, she's throwing you a bone to apologize.* I encouraged the spiderboy half-heartedly.

He averted his eyes from her own deadly glare "But Gwen, I-" He was a stubborn little git, though.

As he was still unrepentant she turned to face me, caught my arm and said, "Let's go somewhere else to speak, Jean."

Then she looked at Emo Pete and held her school bag to him. "Wait for me Peter, ok?"

He looked like a lost puppy for a second, until he looked at me and scowled. If his eyes could kill I would be dead twice over, fortunately he couldn't.

"Fine!" He took Gwen's bag and continued to glare at me.

I shook my head at the despicable behavior the guy had, but it was all born from pain. A pain that he wielded to keep people away, though people like his aunty and Gwen could get past it. Gwen walked me to the nearest courtyard, Patsy and Jessica shadowed us, it seemed they gave me space to win over the blonde girl.

We sat on a stone bench, then there was an awkward silence for one minute until I decided to break the ice with something obvious.

"You know Peter is in love with you?" I started the conversation.

She smiled, but it was quickly replaced by a frown. "I am aware, but he does nothing to confess."

I shook my head, I pitied the guy. "Poor boy has just lost his uncle, I don't think he is ready for romance."

That made her glare at me, she didn't like the tone I employed it seems. I toned down the snark, I didn't want to attract her enmity. *Calm down, me. Damn she looks so cute when angry.*

Gwen looked thoughtful. "Why does he hate you this much?"

The blonde girl was curious why Pete and I were so hostile to one another. I decided to tell her the truth and not brush it off, one day I will save her from being in a relationship with the guy, it might save her life, after all. Well, it depended on what type of spiderman Peter Parker was, he clearly wasn't the Earth 616 version.

"Well, let's just say that I told him that I was sorry for his loss, but he took it badly and shouted at me to leave him alone. I don't know what's his problem." I shrugged.

Gwen's eyebrow rose at that. It seemed that his behavior didn't sit well with her. "I will speak to him, this is not good to be rude like this."

I shrugged. "I really don't care about it."

I gave up on ever being friends with Peter Parker, because I didn't want to participate in the fucking drama that was his life. The guy was so guilt ridden that he preferred to live a life of mediocrity.

She crossed her legs, looking at me questioningly. "So, what is it that you want, Jean?"

I instantly went to the point. "Say, do you have a plan for after you graduate school?"

Gwen was surprised by me asking that, and she felt that it wasn't appropriate to speak of her goals to a total stranger. However, with the trust me field that I copied from Xavier, people became more malleable and loose tongued, as if they knew for a long time and more subjects to reveal things.

"Yes, I plan to go to Empire State University and maybe intern at Oscorp. A friend of mine, Harry Osborn is willing to recommend me to his father for it." Gwen informed me.

Interesting. Her plan was almost word for word what I would expect from her counterpart in the 616 reality, but she wants to intern at Oscorp. *Does she have any ideas of what might happen to her if she goes there?*

I wanted to protect her from her choices and Norman Osborn. That evil fucker was a stain on this world that I will gladly erase, with prejudice.

Now it was my turn to speak and give the reasons of why I approached Gwen. "Hum, ok. You see I'm going into Genetics and Bioengineering too. I want to open a company and I am looking for talented people like you."

I wanted to become someone wealthy, and powerful who had connections. That was what it would take to be able to change this world. Just saving people on the street like spidey does? That's small time. No- I wanted to do Tony Stark level stuff, have my own tech and companies, then prepare the world for the threats coming from the great beyond.

Her eyes widened at my declaration. "You are my age, and already want to open a company?"

She sized me up.

"I have my reasons, but for now I am busy gathering resources and studying. I could actually get my GED right now and apply for a university."

This wasn't a boast, at my current level I could already graduate and with the knowledge I took from Agent Shane have a degree in political science like she did.

*But fuck that!* I had better things to do, so I would follow my plan.

"Why don't you?" Gwen cutely tilted her head.

This girl was dangerous for my heart...

I shrugged. "I have friends I don't want to leave behind in this school and I can actually prepare for this period of my life by planning, but at the same time enjoying school life and dissing all those sheeps in Midtown High."

She chuckled at that; she was no angel. "Interesting." Gwen finally said. "Why me?"

I smirked at her. "You are the smartest girl I know and I want you to work for me later and um... youarekindagorgeous." I quickly said while lowering my head to look at her feet.

There was a long silence after that, until it was broken by Gwen's laugh. "Pete was right, you want in my panties."

"Can you blame me? You are exactly my type." I did a perusal of her from head to toe, grinning.

She blushed. "Hum, can I think it over?"

I nodded and held my hand to her. "Can we become friends?"

"Sure." She fitted her hand into mine, and shook it.

Gwen then felt something in her hand when I took mine back. She saw a bit of paper. I had given her my contacts, I cursed the world for not having smartphones yet! But I will make do.

Grinning, I proudly said with a wink, "Here's my phone number. See you at lunch, ok?"

Gwen laughed. "Wow, very smooth Grey. Okay, I guess we will see each other at lunch."

She left and- honest to god- I saw her roll her hips provocatively while I watched her.

**# # #**

**(Phil Coulson)**

**Queens**  
**Cerberus Security HQ, front for SHIELD**  
**09:15 AM**

There was a computer lab located in the sub basement number three of the tall building cradling the Cerberus headquarters which was a front for S.H.I.E.L.D. A group of three high level agents watched the video that was recorded by the agents charged in tailing Charles Xavier.

During the first thirty minutes, nothing happened, just people mingling and going to work. Director Carter had recognized the car used by the professor. What surprised Phil was the man who drove Xavier to the cafe: Logan a man who hadn't aged a day from when Phil had met him.

They seemed to have met a young woman, a redhead; at first the agent believed that this was one of Xavier's recruiting trips. But it didn't seem to be it, as five minutes later when Logan left, he clearly looked distressed and entered the Rolls Royce.

Peggy, Phil and Fury who were seated before the screen looked at each other, clearly not understanding what was happening.

Then the redhead exited the cafe after ten minutes or so, and looked around the street. Peggy leaned forward in her chair, placing a hand on the desk, taking in all the girl's features. As for Phil, he didn't like how this teenager clothed; she looked like a girl trying hard to seem tough and provocative.

But as she moved in a confident and predatory gait toward the agents' vehicle, Phil felt as though the agents were in danger, and he was proved right when the car doors opened by themselves and the girl waved her hand. The agents fell slack unconscious.

"Mother fucker! What's goin on?" Fury shouted, pausing the video.

No one around her reacted to her actions. Everyone on the street was ignoring the car and the girl. She then approached the vehicle and touched each of the men. Her eyes went glassy as she seemed to focus on something. After two minutes, a worried expression etched on her face, but she shook her head, let go of the agents and then she turned into a black and red blur completely disappearing from sight.

Coulson rose from his seat, placing a hand on his chin, then looked at Peggy. "Madam Director, we clearly have an enhanced problem on our hands."

"I can see that, Phil." Peggy affirmed, rewinding the video and played it again.

Fury's black skin darkened even more as anger welled up inside him. "How come no one is reacting to her basically assaulting people in their car?"

"Better yet, how fast is she?" Coulson added as he sat back at his friend's side.

Fury was an ex-military who attained the rank of colonel in the United States Army in the late sixties, he was discharged honorably. After a stint in the CIA as an operative during the cold war he joined SHIELD. Since then he has been… even more paranoid when he noticed that the world didn't look like he really thought, aliens, mutants, magic wielder. Coulson smiled at the man; most agents working here were aware of how the world worked and had a more open mind after going through the induction process into SHIELD.

But seeing a young girl disappear in a blur of speed? It was too much it seemed.

He pointed his finger at the screen, asking, "Is there a way to know who that is?" Fury looked at the screen which was frozen with the redheaded teenage girl in view of the camera, before switching to one of the random agents in the computer lab.

It was one of the female agents who stood up and answered him. "The facial recognition software prototype is working on it, ma'am."

He nodded and sat back. As for Phil, he began to discuss the type of power this young and enhanced teen possessed with the director. Clearly the girl had super speed and… telepathic powers. They judged that it was her who had been tampering with the behaviors and memories of the agents in Annandale-on-Hudson. While they discussed, the agents ran like chicken in the room, looking for information on the young girl.

It was one hour later when they had a breakthrough. The blonde agent put folders on the desk before the three high level one and the director; then returned to work.

Phil read aloud the pages in the folder, "Jean Grey, age sixteen, she lives in Annandale-on-Hudson, goes to school at… strange."

Peggy looked at Phil. "What is?"

So far the girl seemed to have a normal background from what they could investigate superficially.

Raising an eyebrow, Phil informed her of what he thought was strange. "She goes to school in the Queens at Forest Hills high, at 175 Km from where she lives."

Fury's brows furrowed, and after quick mental calculations, he asked, "How the hell can she commute?"

Peggy shook her head, "We have a mystery on our hands, Phil."

Thinking fast, Phil's eyes moved to the redhead on screen and said aloud, "Though we saw her run at super speed, do you think she... runs to school?"

Fury looked at Phil, who could barely think that someone was that fast. The Director shrugged. "You never know with enhanced individuals. They don't think like us. When they have such extreme abilities, common sense doesn't apply to them." Peggy gave them some pearls of wisdom.

Phil nodded and returned to reading. He was surprised to find a history of bullying in the girl's files and that she changed schools multiple times, then was homeschooled at thirteen when she put her bullies in the hospital. Broken bones, and some were in critical condition.

"I say we bring her in!" Fury's voice was laced with venom as he slammed the folder on the desk.

Phil turned to him and saw that Fury had reached to where he is in the file, the agent asked himself if Nicholas wasn't being too hasty. He turned to Peggy who looked thoughtful.

"I don't think we should, Nick." Phil put his folder on the desk too.

Fury flinched, as he assumed Phil would agree with him. "What? Why?"

Phil saw how fast the girl moved and how she seemed to be able to control what people can see and the memories of his agents she had tempered with.

"We don't know what she's capable of and the tough sell might not work with her." He finally said, not wanting to create a situation where they would go in completely blind.

*And the young woman might not like that we come barge into her house in force, and get confrontational. Who knows what she can do? What if she knows exactly what we do? We might have a civilian knowing about SHIELD.*

"We must know why she's attacking our agents." Peggy stood up. "We must meet her for that."

Phil followed suit. He straightened his tie, and felt for his pistol in his shoulder holster. "I will go with you Director."

Fury raised too, rolling his eyes. "Fine, I will prepare a team in case Red goes batshit crazy."

Director Carter chuckled. "Thank you Nicholas. "

He waved Peggy away and left the room. Phil and Peggy followed him outside.

**# # #**

**Forest Hills**  
**Midtown High**  
**12:23 AM**

Jessica, Patsy and I entered the cafeteria conversing about P.E classes and how some baseline humans are too soft. We have been showing off even to the so called track and fields jocks, and it had been funny to pass them and look at their surprised expressions. Though, we now had a standing invitation to join the club by the coach which I wasn't willing to take up.

*I already have a bad time commuting after all.*

After P.E, Jessica went to get Patsy, while I stood waiting for them and was suddenly accosted by Flash Thompson. He wore his red football jacket, but the expression on his face didn't look like the cocky brain addled jock I knew. He walked up almost timidly toward me.

"Hey Grey." He waved at me.

"Thompson?" I scowled at him. "What do you want?" I closed my locker brutally when he addressed me.

He flinched as I looked at him venomously. As I reached for his mind I felt that he was feeling truly lost and disgusted with himself.

Flash passed a hand in his hair and seemed to take his courage in his hands and spoke. "I want to apologize for my conduct the… last time."

*Huh?* Ah yeah when he tried to 'give me a lesson' and I make him confront his demons. Even with an eidetic memories you can forget about inconsequential people. I'm being a bit harsh, but I truly don't care for hormonal boys who keep lusting after me or try to 'melt' the bitch heart like I heard them say one time.

Raising my chin, my voice was taunting, "So?"

Flash looked me in the eyes. "I just had a.. revelation. What I've been doing to people doesn't sit well with me."

My lips quirked into a smile. "You finally noticed that you have become a bully?"

He lowered his eyes, his hand forming a fist. "Yeah…"

We didn't speak for a minute, but I decided to throw him a bone to avoid this awkward moment between us. "What are you going to do now?"

Just as expected, he stood tall, with a determined expression etched on his face. "I'm going to try to undo the harm I have caused."

"Good. Later Flashy." I nodded to him and turned heel, until I reached the end of the corridor leading to the cafeteria and courtyard.

"Jeanie!" A redheaded missile impacted me, and I saw that it was Patsy.

"Can you let me breath?" I asked calmly to Patsy who then looked sheepishly at me and let go of the tight hold she kept on me.

This meeting with Flash Thompson showed me that I could manipulate and influence the less important person in this timeline. Jessica took me out of my train of thoughts and began to speak about Etsy, the clothes shop she showed me last Saturday and how she planned to make me go punk rock. I bristled at that, I wasn't the type!

As for Patsy, she followed us like a baby duck. Looking around her, and held onto my red jacket. I looked behind me and saw that a lot of people looked at us, their thoughts were quite loud.

_The loners are together._

_Damn, Red is as gorgeous as ever, too bad she has a stick up her butt._

_Why is Jones with her? I thought we made the whole school ostracize her?_

I stopped moving and scowled, turning my face toward the one who thought that. It was coming from the cheerleader squad table, a brunette girl with long curly locks of hair. Wearing the yellow and purple cheerleading outfit that made her look like a skank. Amanda Smith, the captain of the squad that I had previously humiliated last year. It seems she didn't understand her lesson.

*I will take care of her later.* I promised myself.

As we couldn't find a table inside the cafeteria we decided to go find one in the courtyard outside the cafeteria and connected to the garden and woods behind the faculty's building. We found a table under the shadow of a tree and sat there, as we installed ourselves, I felt a familiar mind coming toward us.

Turning my head I saw my favorite petite blonde walking toward us, I smiled at her, she smiled back at me; it was as if the sun suddenly broke out of the clouds and shone his kind and warm light upon me. Behind Gwen, Peter Parker appeared and just like that stormy clouds covered my sun.

I frowned when I noticed him, causing Jessica and Patsy to look in the same direction.

"Well, there's a hanger on." My shoulders slumped as I lamented the presence of emo Pete.

"It's ok, Jeanie." Patsy put a hand on my arm, then she returned to eating the boxed lunch that mom made for us when we left home.

"Hi Jean!" Gwen chirped as she finally reached them.

"Gwen." I gave her a smile and a wave.

Why did I feel happy just by seeing her? What was wrong with me? Was I controlled by my hormones? What I felt was different from lust and love. Fortunately, I had nothing but time to discover it.

After a moment between us, Gwen turned to Peter and dragged him forward. "Hum, I brought Pete with me. I couldn't just leave him alone, you know."

My eyes found the reluctant ones of Emo Pete and bored into him, he broke the exchange first. *Wimp.*

"Sure, he can join us. At least if he can stay civil and stop being an ass." I then took a sip of my Pepsi.

Gwen looked at Peter and with a frosty gaze commanded, "Sit, please."

The young man obeyed but the surly expression on his face lingered. He opened his bag, pulling out a brown bag out of it which contained a sandwich. He began to bite into it and chewed slowly, directing a harsh glare towards me. I smiled tauntingly at him.

Ignoring him again, I turned to Gwen who sat at Peter's side and took out her own lunchbox containing rice salad. I became envious of the dish, as I just had some beef burgundy. It was fatter and heavier. She shrugged, but continued to eat. Jessica stole my yogurt, taking advantage of her eating it, I pinched her arm but it did nothing to her and she just smiled at me tauntingly .

It was after I finished and so had Gwen, when I decided to broach the subject that was really important to us.

"Did you think about my offer?" She has been trying to anticipate this moment, but I took her by surprise it seems. Gwen took me for one of those teenagers she had a habit to put in their place. But I am not conforming to any scenario she made in her head.

Gwen nodded. "As a matter of fact, yes. I'm really interested, but I wish to see your planning first and… results."

Smiling, I leaned forward. "You are prudent. I like that, never jump into something without checking first."My voice was smooth as silk.

Then we began to discuss her field of expertise; it was a stretch to call her an expert, but Gwen was scarily smart. I couldn't let Norman Osborn have her, if I could get some Oz serum I was sure that Gwen could make it safe, and not a goblin generator. Gwen proved to me how she would cure it, when I asked her how she would treat the madness and physical change that are the symptom of a biogenic chemical compound.

We then talked about what kind of salary and facilities she would need to begin her own research, and on a paper I gave her with information about the Vita Ray Process.

As we spoke, Peter hesitantly addressed Jessica. "What are they talking about?"

She shrugged, not really sure what her best friend discussed with Gwen as it got too technical for her when they began speaking about a laboratory and distribution system.

"Jean is trying to recruit her for her future pharmaceutical company. "

"Oh." Then emo Pete glared at me anew.

I sensed another mind coming toward us, a familiar one, and I found myself hugged from behind before I could react. "Hello Jean." A familiar voice whispered in my ear.

I forcefully turned and the person made a 'Eep', finding herself on her ass hitting the ground. I was surprised to see my locker neighbour, the gorgeous asian girl. "Huh? Cindy is that you?"

Cindy stood up from where she fell, wiped the bottom of her black pants and looked at me with a disapproving expression. "You don't call, don't even come to look for me at school. A girl would think you are trying to avoid her."

Just like that I find myself feeling guilty. "I wouldn't! I mean sit with us, ok?"

Cindy grinned a victorious grin as she looked at Gwen. Gwen scowled at her. There was a story there, but I didn't want to enter their mind, as they are friends of a sort- or at least the beginning of ones.

Suddenly I noticed that the table was full of people I surrounded myself with, just like I intended when I choose this school. Peter Parker, Gwendolyn Stacy, Jessica Jones were there, and Patsy was there as a bonus. I thought I would have to look for her in California but no… this dimension was a weird mix of MCU, Comics and Marvel animation.

*Interesting.* I found myself thinking. I will need hours of meditation to concert with my other self to discuss about the things she knew about those different forms of media and the changes that it may put to my plans.

After lunch, we went to classes and I couldn't wait for it to be done with. Tonight, Elektra and I had a date.

**# # #**

As Chemistry class finished, I found myself in a booth in the girl's toilet with Cindy Moon in my arms, her tongue down my throat. How did this happen? I thought she just wanted to talk.

She was so... intoxicating, her hair was like silk under my fingers.

Cindy had accosted me in one corridor when I was heading to my car to wait for Patsy and Jessica. She had on her hockey stick behind her back and a stylish sport jacket, blue top, red skirt and black boots that made her look cuter.

She walked up to me, there was shyness in her body language but a lot of determination in herself. There was lust and obviously more than a little interest for me. I didn't understand why. I've barely showed her how interested I was and she suddenly settled her choice on me? *Or is it about availability? There weren't a lot of people like us in school interested in same sex relationships.*

"Hey Jean." She greeted in a husky voice.

I waved at her with a smile plastered on my face. What the hell, Marvel? Why are you placing hot girls before me? I won't be fooled! *But dang… she's cute.*

"Cindy?"

She stopped walking. "I hoped to catch you before you left."

*Why?* Was it because I didn't call her when she gave me her phone number? I can honestly say that I've forgotten with all the shit happening to me. Is that how Spiderman feels? I refused to try to empathize with emo Pete!

"Oh, is there something troubling you?" I asked politely.

A cunning smile spread on Cindy's face, and the lust she radiated raised up a notch as she stepped into my personal space.

"Yes, you could say that." She said as she caught me by the hand and pulled me to the nearest girl toilet.

And that's how I found myself kissing the asian girl of my dreams. I should have seen it coming, but who was I to complain? As I continued to french kiss her as if my life depended on it, my mental shield became looser as the heightened emotions between us got to me and despite myself, I saw some of Cindy's memories. I couldn't but help to see a scene from her immediate memory in her own point of view.

_"Hey, Stacy!" Cindy called on the petite blonde girl._

_Gwen who was closing her locker turned to the voice of the interloper and saw Cindy coming to her threateningly._

_Gwen kept her affable expression on her face and asked, "Yes? Who are you?"_

_The fairy-like girl put her workbooks in her arms, placing them defensively between her and Cindy. The asian girl was all in Gwen's face and said with anger, "Back off Jean, she's mine?"_

_I couldn't help but notice that there were people around them and they were hearing them, and they began to whisper among them. Gwen looked around her, closed her eyes and then sighed heavily. When she reopened them, the nice and kind Gwen disappeared to let place to a vindictive, sassy and tough girl._

_"Slavery was abolished in 1865 in the USA; so I doubt it. And Jean belong to herself, we are just… friends." Gwen's chin raised as she looked at Cindy in the eyes._

_Cindy snorted. "Not the way I saw you act with her this morning."_

_Gwen gaped at her, not expecting such a response. "So you resorted to stalking us?"_

_Cindy suddenly looked panicked and she quickly tried to cover her actions with, "I am not a stalker! I just saw you with her."_

_Gwen laughed at her and said, "Right." Then she turned heel and left._

As I took in her memories, I stopped kissing the asian girl who seemed to have some yandere tendency- or should I say stalking? It was cute in a way, but she was far better than some other people I've met who are utter creeps.

"Wow." I felt warm and fanned myself. Was it me or is it hot in here?

"Yes, wow." Cindy giggled, licking her lips as she stared at me in lust. Her hands clasped mine and she began to stroke my palms with her fingers.

Cindy was a young woman who knew what she wanted, and didn't shy away from using underhanded tactics to get them; at least that's what I felt from her. It was hard to gauge her as she was unpredictable. I could really dive into her mind, but I wouldn't. What with my already frayed mental shield, just a bit of kissing and it came undone. I needed to do better than that. Though her memory was interesting, now I understand why this silent conversation with Gwen had taken place at lunch.

Those girls were fighting over me- me. That's strange, after being unwanted for so long in my previous schools I didn't understand the intricacies of such mating ritual from a teenage standpoint. I was kind of blunt in my approach of romance.

Just like now. "So, was it your way of wanting to claim me?" I asked Cindy who blushed at my directness.

"Did it work?" There was a note of uncertainty and fear of rejection in her voice.

"Kinda." I shrugged, making her let go of my hands and then suddenly put them on her shoulders and pulled her to me for another kiss that she instantaneously reciprocated. She tasted like strawberries, my favourite.

We must have been making out for hours, but as I watched my wristwatch, it had only been twenty minutes. With regret I stopped, but Cindy still clung to me and kissed me back again, our bodies almost moulding together.

"Sorry Cindy, I must leave right now…" I mumbled between kisses.

*God I also don't want to let go, But I must.* Reluctantly I let go of Cindy.

I felt the sadness of my new paramour as she felt that she had to stop too. Cindy's amber coloured eyes found mine and she said, "Promise me."

I was so lost in her eyes that it took time for me to notice that had spoken to me. "Huh, what?"

She grinned, the little minx knew exactly what she was doing to me. "Promise me we will at least go on a date." Cindy insisted.

I thought about it, my arm automatically snaking around Cindy's waist. *I have time for dates. But the training with Elektra will be savage, should I tempt fate by accepting? *

I saw hope in the expression of the amber eyed girl, puppy dog eyes that made my heart thump frantically in my ribcage. "Certainly, hey wanna go to see a movie or eat a bite at the mall this weekend?" I blurted out.

With a million dollars winning smile, Cindy nodded. "The mall is okay?"

I felt that she was used to this place, and lived near. Some of her memories bled through my mind and I saw the apartment where she lived inside was decorated with asian things and furnished with furniture that remind me of the one you would see from a Korean household. This startled me. Cindy could bypass my mental shield. Why? Another mystery for another time.

"Yes. I will call you." I answered.

Cindy's happiness threatened to overwhelm my empathic ability, and for the first time since I got them I turned them off.

"You better." She kissed me on the lips and the left cheek, opened the door of the booth and left with a spring in her steps.

*Why do I always attract the weird ones? * I lamented internally.

My other self was the same. She had weird friends and weird lovers in her original world; she even ended up in weird situations. Now this has translated in the Marvel Universe too. I shrugged and got out of the pink colored booth, placed myself before one of the mirrors and bathroom sinks. I looked like a mess, my hair is tangled like a bird nest and my face all flushed.

And I couldn't stop grinning. *Damnit Cindy.*

After another five minutes to make myself presentable, I left the girl toilet and crossed the corridor to find myself at the school's entrance giving view on the parking lot. Almost everyone was away, only those had cars were left, and my red camaro was still waiting for me with Patsy and Jessica. Damn, I left them waiting there.

I gradually approached, and I saw Patsy's eyes light up at my arrival; Jessica didn't look happy though. "Where were you, Jeanie?"

"I… someone asked me something and I had to help." In a sense it was true.

Jessica looked at me skeptically, but I avoided her gaze, entering the car. I ignored her enquiries and focused on Patsy, asking her about her day. Then she told me how some people approached her because of her association with me, asking questions they had no business to ask.

"Don't worry I told them all to fuck off." The younger redhead said proudly.

My chest swelled with pride as I watched at the smiling and satisfied face of Patsy in the mirror. *They grow up so fast…*

Jessica was horrified; I was being such a bad influence on her perfect sister. "Patsy! Language!" This was the first time that she heard Patsy swear at all. Alisa their mother wouldn't allow it, and she even had a jar of money and bills for swear words, so far they were all full with Jessica's money.

Patsy harrumphed. "That's rich coming from you, Jesse."

I laughed at their antics. Jessica shot daggers at me and I shrugged, started the car and we left Midtown High. We avoided traffic jams by flying and staying invisible after I made everyone ignore the flying camaro. And in fifteen minutes, I brought the girls home. Alisa tried to invite me but I told her that I was late for home and it was family night tonight.

Alisa settled for the weekend of the next week, and I promised to have a sleepover with all the girls. I didn't like how pushy the woman was, but bottled it up, waving at the family and leaving the house. It didn't take me long to fly over Manhattan, I passed over the Queens, aligned my car in the direction from where I felt my parents were and the car zipped at high speed toward Annandale.

**# # #**

**Annandale-on-Hudson**  
**Grey house**  
**16:02 PM**

When I arrived at home, I was still high from the kisses with Cindy Moon when my mental detection field and instinct told me that there were strangers in my house. I scowled. There were two unknown minds in the living room. I let my psionic energy fill me, I held tight on the lid as it threatened to come free. My power fluctuating between ten and thirteen percent, I still had control issues when in tough and unforeseen situations.

Those two minds felt like clockworks and hidden schemes brewing in them. I don't know how to explain it, but I knew those two were spies.

Parking my car before the garage near dad's, I sighed, preparing for a battle or just neuralizing those two people. *What are spooks doing in my house anyway? Was it Xavier's fault? If it is I will kill him.*

Walking up to the door I opened it, and through my empathy I felt the mind of my parents and the spooks reacting to my entrance.

"Mom, I'm home!" I shouted.

Then I let psionic energy in my right arm and formed,ready to unleash psychic blast to incapacitate anyone threatening my family.

"Jean come in the living room we have… guests." She sounded nervous.

Walking slowly to the living room, I saw two people facing mom and dad in the sofas, dressed in black suits. One was a woman with white hair, she looked nice for her age, and the man at her side was… Phil Coulson, at least a younger version of him. The woman turned toward me, sizing me stood up and walked up to me. She held her hand before her to allow me to shake it. I didn't. "Miss Grey. We finally meet."

I tilted my head. "I don't know who you are."

She was vaguely familiar, but I couldn't pinpoint why. I admired how she held herself. If she was here they must know who I am and somehow know what I can do. But this woman was there not scared at all of me. She was either crazy or thought she was in total control of the situation.

Then it clicked. I knew who she was now, and I was scared.

"Oh, my bad. I am Director Carter of-" She smiled at me as she told me that.

"S.H.I.E.L.D." I finished her sentence.

*FUCK YOU MARVEL, !* I shouted in my mind. I knew today was too good to be true! Though recalling Cindy's sweet kisses calmed me down. I wanted more of those, and I would my damned best to not jeopardize that.

"Like we thought, you know of us." Phil Coulson mused, nearing us.

He too didn't feel like he was in danger at all. He seemed intrigued by me and the puzzle that I represented. The man was a really kind soul, but he placed his duty before everything, so no appeal to him to find here.

My parents began freaking out. Dad thought it was a mistake to have invited those people in their house. Mother was just weirded out by my hostile stance toward those people.

I glared at the man and then at Carter. "Your agents have been crawling all over town, it would be difficult to not know who you are. Look, I don't know what you want, but we don't-"

"Jean! Be more respectful!" Mom cried out.

She looked at me as if I was the one troubling those people. What was her problem with figure of authority? This is another thing I will have to help her stop.

I snorted. "They just barged into our lives. I know how their kind operate, and they will fuck it up because it's convenient to them."

This seemed to have shut mom up, really thinking about why those people were here. I told her about how the government took people with powers like me and we were experimented on. This came to the forefront of her mind and she began to elude fear for me. "You seem to speak from experience, Miss Grey." Phil found me strange.

She acts as if she knows our methods and protocols. But it can't be, right? I read his thoughts, or at least he blasted them at me. Typical unshielded mind.

"Phil Coulson, level 4 agent, serial number SKJ 08U7342. I met your partner, Katherine Shane. " I remembered as all the information agent Shane knew came at the fore of my mind.

Phil who looked surprised at my revelation scowled at that, as I had tampered the mind of his best friend. It's not something that could be easily forgiven.

"Fascinating," I heard Peggy say. "not only can you look at memories but also retain the details you perused." Peggy Carter looked at me as if I was a shiny new toy.

I knew what she thought. She wanted me in the employment of SHIELD to help them protect uncle sam. But I won't, at least not until they were still under the World Security Council purview or that I was sure that there was no Hydra plant in their midst.

"Forget it." I speared Peggy with a glare.

She looked at me dumbly, not aware that I was reading her like a book.

"I will make you forget that you ever came here anyway." I walked toward Peggy.

That's a shame. I would have loved to speak with her about the good ol' times." She smirked at me, not afraid at all, when I was about to take her arm

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, we took… precautions." Peggy warned.

And it was at this exact moment when I felt that the house was surrounded by at least fifty people all ready to rumble and more were coming.

I glared at Peggy. She smiled at me, Phil was nervous.

"That's playing dirty." I whined.

50, 80… 100 people surrounded the house. They were all armed, through my spatial sense that I spread around the house I could feel them approaching. This was a zero sum game that we were playing right now.

Mom approached me, folding her arms around me. "Jean what's happening?"

"They brought back up." I answered mom. "Not enough. I could take them all, but I wouldn't be able to protect you."

"You are certainly confident." Peggy crossed her arms, still watching and listening to my reactions.

If I was in control of my power, I could take this many people. But if the lid broke at this time, it would be X-Men The Last Stand all over again, and the neighborhood would get vaporized. Despite me, red psionic energy surrounded me at my elevated level of stress. Coulson was about to take his gun in his holster as he panicked when he saw my aura, when Peggy stopped him from shooting me.

Decision, decision…

Flee.

Stay and listen to what they want.

Fight, take mom and dad, and become a fugitive.

Obviously, it was number 2 that I choose, as I lacked the guts to become a fugitive. I wanted stability and a clear record for my plans to commence. The USA were the staging ground for Mutant/Innovade rights and the most powerful of my people were here. The X-Men were here, the future invasion by the Chitauri? Here. I couldn't afford to become wanted.

I let my psionic energy dissipate, but not my dermal armor. "Fine, what do you want Director Carter?" I looked at her.

She sighed in relief when I spoke. "Finally you see reason, would you have seriously…?"

I know what she wants to say, would I have taken the entire SHIELD taskforce around my house. I chose to be as forthright as possible. "I can take everyone you gathered if I want yes. You are just lucky that you have two hostages here."

Phil became even more nervous at my revelation. But after some breathing exercises (?) he calmed down, and to defuse the situation even more said, "Oh. We are not here to become your enemy Miss Grey."

I snorted, and took off my red leather jacket and gave it to mom who decided to go to stash it. Dad went to take a drink, he was sweating like a cow.

"It sure looked like it." I told them, and went to sit on the sofa.

We all sat, dad and mom came to sit with me in the middle. I felt the SHIELD taskforce retreat slightly, but they were still wary. Mom put snacks and drinks on the low table and we started the conversation with a question that seemed to burn Phil Coulson. I took care to deploy my trust-me-field, courtesy of Charles Xavier; it's one of the best lessons he has taught me.

*We will see if they are susceptible to it. I will ramp up the intensity of the field until they leave.* I crossed my legs and put my hands in my lap.

"Do you know why SHIELD had a presence in this town." His brown eyes boring into mine.

*Shit, they start with the big guns already?* Leaning back on the sofa, my teeth felt they were being pulled as I clipped out, "Yes."

"Excellent, this conversation will move along." Phil smiled eagerly.

When mom and dad looked at him with trepidation, I put both of my hands on them in reassurance. I could protect them and just nuke the area if I wanted to, but I liked my house as it was.

Peggy took some peanuts that she swiftly gobbled up and poured some lemonade in her glass. She stared at me for a moment, until she spoke.

"Miss Grey, can I call you Jean?"

It was hard to refrain from rolling my eyes. "You are Peggy Carter, you can do what you want."

I was sure of it. America and the world owed her a lot, and I knew most politicians were afraid of her.

Peggy raised an eyebrow at my assertion. "A fan?"

Even though I was being hostile and felt violated that SHIELD came into my house, I couldn't stop admiring the woman, and yes she is one of my favourite characters in her show. I nodded carefully. "To be truthful… yes, you are one of my role models. Diana Prince is another, you two are in the same class, after all you went through World War 2 and fought alongside heroes."

"Diana…?" Peggy tried to guess who that was and if she had met her, she drew a blank from her memory.

Phil intervene and tells her, "A comic book character, Diana, Princess of the Amazon of Themyscira."

Peggy scowled at the two of us when she realized we spoke about a fictitious character. *By the-all-mother, she shouldn't throw stones in her glass house. To me she was also a fictitious characters… wait, I'm real, everything is real I can't think like that.*

"Phil, you a geek too? I would have never guessed" I teased.

And just like that the tension in the air slowly dissipated when I began to take the lead in this conversation. Peggy noticed as she looked at me with a frown, huh I guess I won't be doing my usual Dumbledore dissembling thing.

"I get around." He nodded with a slight smile on his face. "I collect some of them, I have this almost mint captain America cards that-" Phil was about to take something from his jacket when Peggy stopped him with a hand on his arm.

Cough. "Phil, this is not the time." Peggy reprimanded him, the man blushed, looking disappointed. I was too; those cards are legendary.

I smiled at them, the trust-me-field seemed to work… instead of ramping it up, I would keep it at the level it was. After all, subtlety was key. Xavier kept it at this level too, even when he wasn't aware that he had it. Their guards were lowered, but even with bouts of levity like this one they were still wary. *Of course they are, I just told them that I can take on their army of minions.*

"Where were we?" Peggy continued.

I took control of my bodily functions and decided to control my emotions. My face became blank, and I realized that I was still green. Peggy and Phil were spies for years, even if I knew what they thought they could still surprise me. The way they thought was kind of squirrely to me, always flowing. It meant I needed more training.

"The brain dead people we found in the neighborhood?" Phil reminded her like the helpful person he always was.

"Ah, yes." Peggy nodded, her eyes landing on me as though I was a troublesome child. "I heard about that. Some people were found brain dead in this vicinity." Dad commented as the news of the last three years came to mind.

Three years, that's how long Sinister had been trying to get a sample of my DNA or to kidnap me. He had even come himself one time to try to brainwash me, and this was one of the rare times I let go of my psychic lid to attack his mind with my full power. I know I hurt him the last time, and since then he has been using proxies.

"I see in your eyes that you know about it too, Jean." Peggy sipped her lemonade. This was frustrating. Did I fib up the truth or do I tell them that I am being hunted? I turned my head to mom, then looked at dad, both looking nervous. What will they think of me when they learn that I am a killer? I am already a mutant and a telepath to boot.

I closed my eyes, sighed and then as I reopened them addressed Peggy. "Director Carter. I can tell you the truth, but I don't know if my parents can… handle it."

"Jeanie?" Mom placed her hand on my shoulder. She was confused by what I was saying, another sign that I was right.

Phil leaned forward, getting closer to the low table and he tried to be reassuring. "You can tell us, Jean. We will try to keep an open mind."

Sigh. "It was me, I wiped the minds of all those guys and let them be found."

Mom stood up in shock. "WHAT?!"

Phil wasn't surprised at all, and Peggy didn't look happy at all. But as they promised, they kept an open mind and didn't judge my actions right away.

I continued to speak, undeterred by the reaction of my mother. "They don't matter anyway, they were just clones of a powered person like me." I didn't want to say mutant, as the term was dehumanizing. I prefer my own word to describe my people and myself 'innovade'.

As I looked at Phil and Peggy, I carried on, "Clones used to try to capture me or obtain a sample of my DNA. The one sending them has also tried to capture me personally. From what I could glean from their minds, they want to create an army with people with my power. Basically to turn me into a broodmare as well use me for experimentation."

I looked at mom. "They are after me because of my abilities. It's certainly no law-abiding citizen who is making and sending them."

Mom remembered when I told her that people would come for me when Xavier visited us. This made her sit at my side again and place a hand on mine.

There was silence in the living room for a minute as everyone digested my confession. Mom still held on me, dad stared at me as if he was seeing me for the first time, just like when Xavier came the last time. Then I used my telepathy to show him everything they wanted to do to me in his mind. He gasped, held on his head. I showed him Sinister and how he had tried to chase me the first time after Annie's death, the different occasion when I almost got caught.

I stopped the influx of memories and then dad's eyes began to tear up and all of a sudden embraced me. "I'm sorry for judging you, Jean."

"It's okay dad." I patted him on his back two times. His t-shirt was getting rumpled.

"What's got into him?" Peggy asked with her brow furrowed.

I held on a tearful dad while answering Peggy. "I showed him everything that happened."

"What? You can do that?!" Mom shouted in awe.I took advantage of this moment to do the same with her and showed her my memories.

Mom gaped in shock, then had a focused expression on her face that slowly melted into a wrathful one. It scared me! Since when could she get that angry? "I will kill them."

"Woah! Slow down mom!" I tried to pacify her as she stood up and began to pace in the living room, her rage and anger simmering, then gradually cool. Giving her purpose, she really didn't like what those memories I sent her implied.

**# # #**

**(Margaret Elizabeth Carter)**

She battled Nazis and Hydra operatives, babysitted a genius man child the likes of Howard Stark and founded SHIELD with like minded individuals and fought for the little people to keep them safe. But this was the first time Peggy felt out of her depth when confronted with someone who seemed to know what she was thinking as she thought it.

What this young girl was telling her frightened her though. They had felt the power of this young lady when she had unleashed that weird red aura around her. An army of people like her? It would be dangerous, until now the girl seemed to know how to take care of herself, she held herself with poise and she was smart. Even better than Peggy when she was her age.

"Do you know the name of the one after you?" Phil asked.

"Only his face, but the clones called him Master or leader. The guy felt like a total wanker too as he ordered those guys."

Phil looked worried, a completely serious expression on his face. Peggy and Phil completely believed the young woman because nothing else would make a young girl act this way. Self defense, because she was really young, Jean Grey would have sought to end the threat. It would explain her attacking the SHIELD team they sent in town for investigation.

But why didn't she ask for help from an adult? Phil asked her just that and her answer baffled them.

"What could mom and dad do? The guy has super strength, can use telepathy like me, superhuman reflexes, durability, speed and stamina and he can fly and is bloody immortal! He is a ruthless and sadistic man who has no compunctions about ruining or taking away the lives of others to get what he wants. He prefers to operate in the shadows, letting lackeys and unsuspecting dupes do his dirty work. He is very cruel, confident, unsympathetic, and expects total obedience from his underlings." The girl began to rant as she stood up.

Peggy noticed how the table and some of the furniture around them began to either float in the air or shake. She asked herself if it was the girl's ability entering in play? To the Director, the young woman was genuinely afraid for her life or for her parents'. Her father stood up and took her into a hug and all the floating decorations and furniture were back to their emplacements.

She noted how Phil looked fascinated, but Peggy realized how dangerous this girl was and the threat she made them at the start of this meeting to be real. *Thanks god I didn't let Nick attack first!* She thought with relief.

It was at this moment that Jean looked directly at Peggy with caution. The director also guessed that the girl was reading their thoughts. She cursed in her mind, the young woman tilted her head and then chuckled at Peggy. That made her sweat a bit,and she asked herself how much were they underestimating this girl because of her age? But her pain and anguish seemed real.

Phil began to pace with Mrs Grey, whose anger didn't let up one iota. All of a sudden he stopped moving and turned to the young woman and asked "Is there any ways for you to show us his face?"

Jean Grey nodded. "Do you want me to show you the memories?"

The redhead looked at the two agents, Phil was about to answer when Peggy spoke over him and said,"No, no offense but I… don't want you in my mind, can you describe him?"

*God knows what she could do to me if I let her in my mind, the secrets buried there are better to not end up in her hands…* Peggy thought afraid.

In her mind, Peggy decided that this young woman asked careful handling, she couldn't let her be captured and used against her country of adoption. If Jean Grey is in danger, she will protect her, even if she had to take her by force today. However, Peggy was afraid that such a course of action would not be accepted by the young woman. Peggy needed her willing to cooperate.

Jean Grey continued to look at Peggy, when she nodded at her. The director understood that the young woman was acquiescing at her decision.

_Good choice, I am willing to work with you only Mrs Carter. I don't trust SHIELD and, from what I've seen, you shouldn't either._

Hearing the voice of another into her mind made her flinch and scared her badly. But after calming down Peggy marvelled at the ability. Then she began to think about what Jean said; Peggy didn't understand what the young girl meant, not trust SHIELD? An organization she helped to build? Why?

But she had no answer as Jean focused on Phil Coulson. "I can draw his likeness on my notepad if you want? It shouldn't take more than ten minutes."

"Please proceed." Phil nodded at her and went to sit on the sofa and poured a bit of lemonade to calm his nerves.

Peggy saw the school bag of Jean fly to her and open, she took a notebook who opened with blank white page and three pencils from it. She placed them on the table and the old woman didn't know what to think of what but Jean didn't touch any of pencils and it began to draw a face. The teenager was focusing on the piece of white paper and ten minutes later a high resolution picture appeared. It was like seeing a photography before them.

"This is his base form, he looks like this most of the time. He can… shapeshift?" Jean showed them the final product.

It a man with white skin and black hair with extensive sideburns on the side of his face and a lozenge shaped tattoo on his forehead. It shocked Peggy and Phil to hear the young girl says that her most hated enemy was a man that could look like anything. How did you fight someone like that, then Peggy realized something, *Does she not trust anyone and use her ability to probe minds to discover who is and isn't that man? Because I would.*

Jean nodded at her again, and Peggy clicked her tongue. "Jean, are you willing to work with us. You will be placed under my protection."

Peggy looked at John and Elaine Grey, they suddenly looked lost in their impotent rage and failure in protecting their daughter.

"Will it be yours or SHIELD's?" The redhead asked.

She seemed to have already decided what she would be doing, Peggy smiled at her. "Mine, I understand that you don't trust the agency."

"One day I will tell you why Mrs Carter." Jean Grey sounded so serious, Peggy and Phil looked at each other. It must be grave for her to not want to say it, *Did she discover something from the agents she… read?*

Phil began to negotiate, "Are you willing to work for your freedom?"

Peggy knew how excited he was to have someone with Young Jean Grey with so many useful abilities. The director saw how valuable a telepath would be in interrogations.

Jean sighed and her gaze bored into them and she categorically said, "No assassination, no brainwashing, no politics?"

They were not surprised that she wanted nothing to do with this kind of things. Peggy decided that she will only put her on interrogations duty and gradually try to integrate them into SHIELD as she gets older and get past her mistrust of her organization.

Peggy nodded. "That's fine with me. I wouldn't let someone as young as you in the business anyway."

For Jean's parents those were graceful terms, they were hashing out more terms and the hours passed. It was decided that the Grey family would be put under discreet protection. They didn't want to move to Manhattan, though Peggy insisted. Jean was still vehemently against changing school,for a good reason.

"I just got my first girlfriend today…" She explained.

Peggy and Phil understood, though Jean being lesbian was a surprise to them; the redhead proceeded to tell them about how awesome her new friends were and that she didn't intend to move somewhere else and if Peggy could arrange something in the Queens, in Forest Hills to be more precise.

*Something can be done about that.* It made Peggy happy that happenstance was helping them. Cerberus HQ was located in the Queens.

Jean smile was radiant and Phil smiled back at her, Peggy took a communicator and began to give orders. Then the two left, leaving a communicator with Elaine Grey just in case something happened. Jean's father was still in shock by the revelation of today and sat numb in the sofa. Peggy followed by Phil exited the house and went directly to the armoured truck with Fury inside.

"Is there a reason we aren't bringing in the girl?" The black man asked.

He wore a dark blue uniform with a badge on the right arm, belt pouch a holster at his waist. Over his uniform he had heavy tactical vest with a ballistic rifle in his hand, the driver was in the same attire as him.

"We have come to an arrangement." Peggy climbed into the heavily armoured vehicle. Fury made way for her and Phil.

The man looked disappointed that there would be no battle. "Oh?"

"Nick, you have to meet the girl and do an assessment of her abilities. I fear that if we had gone with your angle first everyone who has come with you would be dead." It pained Peggy to say it, but she was happy to not have gone in this house all guns blazing with a tactical team.

He looked askance at Peggy, then at Phil. "She can't be that tough."

Peggy remembered how the decoration and furniture reacted to Jean's anger and floated or shook in the living room. She looked into Fury's eyes and said with conviction, "Something tells me she is."

"Motherfucker." Fury mumbled.

**# # #**

**Back with Jean...**

I collapsed on the sofa, the furniture floated around me as I barely got control of my abilities. I dodged a bullet! SHIELD still discovered me and I almost went terminator on them. It was a sure way of becoming public enemy number one.

"Shit, I am on the map now, for the likes of General Ross, HYDRA and the World Security Council." I lamented.

Calm down me! I won't give them anything away. Not my soul, nor my integrity. This encounter proved that I must be in control of those powers of mine as soon as possible. At full power they wouldn't have been able to get to me, I would have been able to send them back packing by manipulating their mind and it would have been that.

So this is what it felt like to not be part of any faction like the Brotherhood or the X-Men? Charles Xavier would have smoothed out what was happening in Annandale long ago. Marvel was trying to force me back into my designed path, and though I knew this universe was dangerous, this proved it to me that I wasn't safe. Even my silent battle with Sinister's toadies didn't stress me as much.

*Constant vigilance and all that.* I nodded.

I felt it when the SHIELD's goons retreated and left town. At least the big force- some were still in the neighborhood for protection and a bit for us to not run away somewhere else. Peggy wasn't taking any risk.

"Jean? Are you ok?" Mom came at my side, the decorations floating making way for her to pass and sit at my side. Dad was still numb on the sofa, and as I leaned my head on his shoulder, I sent positive feelings into him. Safety, love, affection.

He was out of his stupor and he silently put a hand around my shoulders.

"No, I am not mom…" I said as I made a bit of lemonade float into a glass and caught it in my hand. It wasn't cold, but I downed the beverage.

I couldn't wait to be able to drink Rum or Mead again. But maybe it wasn't the best idea; alcohol might affect my abilities. After a long discussion with mom and dad, I explained in more details what Sinister wanted from me. I told them about Scott Summers and the plan to breed with him and create a so called super-mutant to fight against another powerful guy called Apocalypse, who was one of the first mutant that ever walked the Earth.

"How do you know this?" Dad asked.

I thought fast, not wanting to tell them about my other self being from another reality and saw what happened to some of our future."I know a seer, dad. Someone who saw the future, and let me tell you it's not pretty."

"Telekinesis, Shapeshifting and now a Seer? Jean this is…" Dad remained skeptical.

The man of science and history that he was, battled with the concept of super powers and genetically empowered people. I couldn't blame him, but I hoped that he would get over it soon. Unconditional support came from mom and it made me love her even more.

"I believe her. Our Jean wouldn't do bad things without reason. That bastard will not have my daughter and turn her into a broodmare." Mom's rage still didn't abate, and now I knew where I got it from.

I looked at the time, noting it was 19:14 PM. I felt exhausted by the turn of events of today. Nothing worse could happen to make it worse.

RING.

There was someone at the door and this mind was familiar… how the fuck didn't I notice her coming? I rose from the sofa with swiftness and as I was about to pass the stairs, I saw mom at door.

*Why Marvel? Why? Please let me some peace!* Mom opened the door. I wasn't surprised to see Elektra Nachios enter my house without being invited.

She was just like Jennifer Garner, but with a more mediterranean skin tone, and silky black hair. Elektra was armed with her Katana behind her back and her Sais in sheath on each of her thigh. Her red Kunoichi costume didn't leave anything to the imagination. "Geia (Hello) Jean. It is time for your instructions."

Mom looked at Elektra's attire, then at me. "Jean who is this?"

Fuck my life.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 6**

**October 22nd 1996  
Hell's Kitchen  
Elektra's safe house  
20:02 PM**

**Crash!**

I landed in the rack of training weapons, fortunately I still had dermal armor passively active. Looking at Elektra sensei, she wore a look of disapproval. Standing back, I glared at her for sending me in the pointy weapon rack, after all it's me who clean and is in charge of the dojo.

"Is that all you have, Jean? You made it out as if this sparring session would be any different from the last time. Hmm, I see that I need to keep your boasting in check." Elektra walked up to me, and I braced myself and she attacked me again.

I caught her arm, attempting to headbutt her, instead I found myself sprawled out across the mat. I slapped it, standing up, only to find Elektra's foot before me. I barely avoided the kick that would have sent me to the land of dreams. Catching it, I slammed her on the mat when her legs wrapped themselves around my neck, until I found myself on the mat- again. She let go of me, rolled and was suddenly straddling me with her sword like hands on my neck.

"You lose." She sounded cold.

She could kill me with her bare hands if I didn't use my powers. I knew this. However, seeing the warm and caring woman that she was switching to her assassin persona was such a dichotomy.

I leaned my head on the mat. "I will never beat you without my powers huh."

Elektra climbed off me and sat at my side. "The goal of this sparring session is to let you learn without them Jean. From what you told me, this country has already invented those _blockers_ for your people. You can't depend on them."

She was right. Those fucking collars are already in distribution. The _power inhibitor_ collars are metallic devices that fit around the neck of the wearer. Through electronic means, the item prevents a particular being from consciously using their super-powers, successfully neutralizing them. I know Xavier has come across them, he told me when he tried his recruiting spiel when we finally moved into the penthouse.

I sat and gritted my teeth. "Fine… sensei."

Elektra giggled at seeing my sullen expression and flicked my forehead. "Stop being so cheeky and now go clean that up." She pointed her index at the training weapon rack that fell over with all the wooden blades on the ground.

Elektra stood back up, retreating in the direction of the showers.

"Ma'am. Yes ma'am! " Standing, I mock saluted while Elektra snorted as me before exiting the dojo. I liked it here. It looked like a classical Japanese dojo with lacquered bamboo paneling on the ground, sturdy enough to take some heavy impact and still stay flexible. It was the same for the wooden walls and ceiling that shone with luster; the skylights let the sky in view but I could see no stars, only darkness and smog. The dojo wasn't big, at least 70m².

I shambled toward the cleaning closet at the end of the dojo. Doing it manually instead of with mind has truly become a chore! Elektra had forbidden me to use my powers to clean the dojo, as she said it built character. Just like I thought she was a taskmaster in training. When we started training, she told me that my level of fitness was barely acceptable and I had never felt so insulted in my life. But when she showed me her training regime I deflated. That woman was a monster!

Urgh I remember that fateful day, when Elektra showed herself to my parents. We were supposed to meet in Hell's kitchen, but she arrived at my door with my parents still reeling from revelations about my… activities.

_# # #_

**(Flashback) **

_**September, Monday 11th, 1996  
Grey House  
19:36 PM**_

"_Geia (Hello) Jean. It is time for your instructions." Elektra was smiling and I felt a smug feeling exude from her, she was happy to have bamboozled me._

_I don't know how she found me, but it wasn't fucking time for any of her ninja master thing. I just got out of having to stomp SHIELD goons!_

_Mom looked at Elektra's attire, then at me. "Jean who is this?" _

_Fuck my life._

_My sins were catching up to me. I knew my stint as a vigilante and me killing without a care were going to be laid bare for my parents to see. _

_"Hello sensei. I didn't expect to see you before late in the evening. " Was it me or did my voice crack a bit?_

_I must have as Elektra smiled and nodded at me. I didn't see her move as she was already at my side and whispering to me, "This is your first lesson Jean. Always be unpredictable."_

_Her smug tone made my hands itch to slap her. _

_As I gritted my teeth, and fists clenching at my sides, I answered, "I will take your teaching to heart."_

_"Jean?" Mom looked rattled and wary at my sudden shift in behavior._

_Well, let's say I am not the most social person when I welcome strangers into my home. It's a habit I took since my elder sister left home and I lost the so called last friend I had. Annie was the real last friend I had since trying my chance with Jessica._

_I placed myself between mom and Elektra, starting the introductions. "Hum, mom this is Elektra, my teacher."_

_I'm deliberately not telling mom her surname, there's a chance that all this could go pear shaped. There's also a question of how Elektra entered an area supposed to be guarded by SHIELD now? *Ah yeah, she's a Ninja.*_

_Mom frowned. "From school?"_

_I chuckled at that. Elektra teaching at Midtown? The boys at school wouldn't be able to do any studying; she's that hot and to add her exotic accent in the mix would turn all those lusty brat into a frenzy. _

_"No, mom. She's my ninjutsu teacher. "_

_She raised an eyebrow at the foreign word. "Nin…?"_

_My mom is an American, and she always buys American; sometimes I ask myself why she never wanted to never buy things that came from outside our borders. I sensed mirth coming from the assassin, she walked up to my mom and held her hand. Mom reluctantly took the offered appendage and shook it firmly._

_All smiles, Elektra greeted, "Nice to meet you Mrs. Grey. I am glad that I can finally meet one of Jean's parents. I've come here today because we must together discuss Jean's fate and future combat training."_

_"Combat training? My daughter doesn't…" Mom stopped talking, suddenly becoming thoughtful. She continued after a few beats. "No in fact she might need it. Please come into the living room."_

_"Thank you for your hospitality. " Elektra took back her hand and looked at me._

_I could feel her pleasure at my discomfort. The assassin enjoyed being the master after being a student under Stick. Elektra was trouble- a trait I hadn't expected her to possess. Mom's gaze shifted to me. She raked a hand through her hair, attempting to ease her overwhelming discomfort. "Jean go take a shower and stay in your room. I have things to discuss with your teacher. We will call you later."_

_Mom shutting me down from their conversation wasn't good. She didn't do that when Peggy, Phil or Xavier were here. Why now? My empathy gave me answers. She was scared, not of me, but of what I've been forced to do. My mother didn't want me to turn into a monster. She wanted to be sure that Elektra wouldn't teach me dangerous… things... _

_She had no idea of how wrong she was. I already reaped lives, but I wouldn't let it turn me into an unfeeling monster bent on destruction, as I have seen where this path leads._

_"But mom-" I tried to protest._

_She raised her hand and then pointed her finger towards the stairs. "Go." Mom ordered._

_Crossing my arms, I glared at her. "Fine." I left, making sure to stomp my way aggressively up the stairs. _

_"I see that you run a tight ship, Mrs Grey." I heard Elektra say sweetly. _

_Mom snorted, ignoring the comment on her parenting. "Please call me Elaine."_

_I gritted my teeth as I went up the stairs and their voices became barely audible, until I charged myself up with psionic energy to augment my senses. Sitting in the steps, I strained my ears._

_"Who are you really?"_

_"Short story is that I accompanied my father to the USA and am a Columbia U graduate, I studied political science." Elektra said the bare minimum._

_She omitted a lot, she didn't speak about how her dad has been assassinated, how she went to find the Chaste and having been dismissed by Stick, her sensei for bearing too much emotion over the death of her dad. Elektra had then proceeded to infiltrate the Hand to prove herself to her mentor. Elektra had been tricked into killing a sensei she had before Stick by the Hand. Elektra continued to serve the Hand thereafter, becoming corrupted by their ways. Eventually, she rebelled against her handlers and fled Japan._

_Her history was too tragic a tale and I don't think mom would understand her past without being horrified by it and Elektra's career without telling her to get out of her house._

_Mom hummed at that, she was aware of just being told the bare bones. "I see… how did you meet Jean?"_

_*Oh shit, here it is! How do I stop this?*_

_I heard Elektra sighs, with my empathic field deployed in full I felt mom curiosity, Elektra's shame and surprisingly her fondness for me. However, I felt that she was also strangely protective of me and that she wanted me out of the way. *Out of the way? Why? Is it because I go hunting for bad guys?*_

"_This is a moment in my life I'm not proud about. When Jean appeared I wasn't in a good position. But Elaine, your daughter, she saved my life." Elektra instilled earnestness in her voice._

_Instantly my mom reacted, "What?"_

_*Here it begins… I'm going to be killed by my own mother!* _

"_You weren't aware of your daughter's nocturnal activities?" I heard the smile in Elektra's voice._

_She was getting me in trouble and now I understood her intentions. She intended on benching me so I was unable to step out of my room and commit to my role as a vigilante! Closing my eyes on the inevitable I stood up, about to leave my room, when I heard mom whisper, "No…"_

_Still with mirth in her voice, and feigning an apologetic tone, Elektra persisted in digging my grave for me. "Ahem, then I'm sorry to tell you that Jean is naughtier than you thought."_

_I didn't leave, wondering if I should just use my powers to control their mind to avoid what was going to happen. But I shook my head at that, as this was a slippery slope, and I wasn't Emma Frost or Mastermind. I wouldn't use my powers on those I loved and admired. As I was locked in my ethical dilemmas, Elektra proceeded to recount the take of how we met and I begged her to teach me how to fight effectively and to disappear and protect myself._

_After a long moment of silence, I felt the anger of my mom and surprisingly dad too who has been listening and got out of his stupor and heavily thought process._

"_I will ground her! Till she's forty!" Mom finally shouted._

_I couldn't help but cry, "No!" out loud and everything went downhill. _

_Mom's heavy footsteps neared. She looked menacingly at me when I saw her at the foot of the stairs. "Jean you are still here!? Go to your room!"_

_I fled to my room, not wanting to aggravate my situation. _

"_She's not sneaky at all." Was the last thing I heard of my parents' and Elektra in the living room. Her giggling haunted me till I went to sleep angry one hour later._

**# # #**

And that is how I have been grounded indefinitely. In revenge, I siphoned Elektra's Ninjutsu and assassin's skill and cut short my learning curves but she still kicked my ass; though some of her moves asked a high level of fitness- a peak human body even.

I mopped the lacquered paneled floor carefully, not wanting to waterlog them. I didn't want the precious floor to inflate and rot.

This reminded me of how my mum tightened the screws on me lately. I have more chores than before and she had grounded me indefinitely; for six weeks I've been commuting to school and going directly home in our new penthouse or that SHIELD facility for testing my powers. Though, my private hell didn't start like that.

Fury had come to my parents and asked if they could test my powers for security reasons. Obviously it was to assess my threat level, mom had asked me if I wanted to do it. I said yes; this was an excellent opportunity to test myself and let loose without worrying about collateral damage. There were techniques and a bunch of abilities that I had developed that I couldn't test without attracting attention.

This entire thing had been a good experience and permitted me to start lifting the psychic lid restraining my power a little bit, bringing me maybe to another 20% of control as I practiced. It was exhilarating...

_# # #_

**(Flashback) **

_**September, Saturday 16th, 1996  
Classified Location  
SHIELD Vehicles and Weapons Testing Facility  
08:30 AM**_

_I felt the familiar mind of the pilot of the helicopter who led me here open the door of the flying contraption. A nice breeze struck me and I felt the sun's rays on my skin, it was a nice day -sunny- but it's a little chilly. Fall is in full swing and if this state had a best quality, it's fall. The air was crisp. _

_Finally, the agent let me out after smooth landing he executed and then took off the useless blindfold. Useless, because it was unnecessary, I already knew where we were. They weren't used to Telepathic intrusion, when will they do something about it? I was in a secret facility at the foot of North Mountain, a peak in the Catskill Mountains of New York. Drab and grey walls and sturdy tall fences surrounded the facility, giving me the impression that yeah no one would hear me scream if I was being captured and I was helpless._

_I took a breath, this wasn't the polluted air of the city, I could see the trees in full autumn bloom. The entire facility was surrounded by a canvas of greens, oranges, yellows and reds. The unnamed agent and I had a walk as I was entering some kind of hangar where I was seeing honest to God prototype helicopters without triple helix, *How the hell do they stay aloft?*_

_There were other kinds of vehicles here that I couldn't describe but I had the luck to see something out of the ordinary. It looked strangely like a speeder from Star Wars, it stayed afloat for five seconds before it bipped with warning and red leds all over it warned of some kind of failure. The Pilot jumped from it and I was surprised that blue arc of electricity ran through it and it exploded in flames._

_It made me laugh, the agent leading me gruffly ushered me at the end of the hangar were we ended up at the other side of the facility. Maybe mocking the researchers here wasn't a good idea._

_Outside the door of the other side of the hangar, there were three buildings and a lot of agents and support staff going around the place. I let my senses spread and suddenly looked at the ground there were thoughts coming deep underground, at least nine hundred meters. As I focused my telepathy, I saw numerous thought streams rising from the ground and get swallowed into the astral plane._

_Clap, clap, clap._

"_Impressive, you already noticed that this facility has an underground base, Red." I heard a voice behind, as I turned I saw a familiar face. Not for me but my other self._

_A tall, svelte black man with a goatee beard and in a dark blue SHIELD uniform stood there. I did everything I could to not squee and devolve in fangirlish behaviors. As I observed him more, I saw that he still had two eyes. *He didn't get it scratched yet, I see.*_

_"Colonel Nicholas Joseph Fury Sr, ex-military, ex-CIA agent, has been working for SHIELD for over ten years. Skilled military strategist; Skilled armed and unarmed combatant; Longevity via Eternity Formula"_

_The name changed in this dimension but the Eternity/Infinity Formula was an experimental drug in the Marvel Universe that slows the aging process. It is used by Nick Fury and many of his comrades, the Black widow is also a beneficiary of those._

_"I see that... I need no introduction. Do you know anything else?" He asked._

_I shrugged, then smiled._

_His mind went into overdrive as the Eternity formula is known to me, then he suddenly remembers that I've read Katherine Shane's memories and that she was aware of it; like I've been aware of Phil Coulson. I see in his memories that they have dissected their meeting with me and tried to profile me to divine my actions and thought process. _

_I will keep an eye on her, there's a chance that she is a plant… Fury thought._

_*Wow! I can't even…* The guy was super paranoid! Though he is described like that a lot in the MCU and Marvel Database wiki. Though, I really didn't care what he thought of me. _

_I shrugged at Fury."You are kinda famous, weird for a spy." Then I chuckled, a chuckle that turned into a full belly laugh._

_After two minutes I stopped, damn I needed that. Mom had decided to ground me, but at least I could still go on my date with Cindy after this testing thing. But after that, I will have to suffer being strictly supervised by my parents. Me going out at night and getting into fights brought them to the edge._

_*I hate this.* I wiped a tear from my eye._

_Fury looked at me with an eyebrow raised, he didn't feel amused at all,"So did you get it out of your system, Red?"_

_Not my fault that the spymaster was that obvious, I pouted and then I said seriously, "Yeah, I'm good now."_

_"So you are one of those mutants…" Fury began to say._

_But I interrupted him by raising a hand and glaring at him. "Mutant, this is a bad word, it's dehumanizing and simply... horrible. Call me an __**innovade**_ _please. That's how I call my people, that's how I will make everyone call us when genetically empowered people like me will be under the public eye very soon."_

_Fury looked at me in disbelief, chuckled and said, "Oh, you seem to have big plans, Red."_

_I nodded frantically. "You'll see. I'm going to make them all see." And by that I meant humans in general._

_Fury invited me to follow him with a sweep of his hand toward one of the buildings I saw earlier. "Sure, sure. At least you ain't spouting ridiculous hippie stuff like Xavier."_

_Hmph. Being compared to Charles Xavier was a low blow! "I hate the guy, he is completely delusional."_

_He laughed at the dissing, at least I wasn't the only one knowing Xavier's dream was at an impasse. Certainly he helped people, but he didn't have a realistic outlook on humanity at all; I find it strange he is a telepath. *But whatever, I don't know the guy too intimately.*_

_After a good laugh, Fury brought us behind the building crawling with people in tracksuits, but less sexy than mine. Nick finally acknowledged me by saying, "I am happy that you agree, but he is still a good man, marked by war and the loss of family and friends."_

_We entered what I believe to be barracks, men and women exited it either in sportswear or in uniform. As we entered, I noticed that this place was divided between men and women. No one said anything as the black man entered the women's side; and as Fury walked to an isolated locker, took out a magnetic card out of his belt pouch and swiped it in the weird electronic lock of the locker that made a sound and the locker opened, showing a big armored silver and black suitcase inside. _

"_Here, you'll find a uniform like mine but unmarked. You are not going to your testing, clothed like… that." He waved toward me, averting his eyes._

"_What's wrong with my outfit?" I tilted my head at him, then looked at myself._

_I wore a pair of black clingy leggings, with a cropped white t-shirt and my red tracksuit blazer and black-green fluorescent Zoom Nike sport shoes. This is the kind of outfit that I would have worn in the year two thousand and eleven._

_Fury finally found the courage to glare at me, he specifically looked at me in the eyes. "You have been distracting some of my men on the way, I want it to stop."_

_I was so used to being lusted after that I didn't care about it, I tend to tune out the feelings and thoughts of those people looking at a teenage girl. And there was no way I was going to change my kind of outfit, this was my kind of fashion after all._

_However I will humor future one eye, just this once. Not before having my fun with him though._

"_Aww, Nick you don't have to compliment me in such a roundabout way." I took a pose just for him._

_He looked at me as if I was crazy, well he wouldn't be far off the mark I wasn't sane by normal standards. And what is sanity? The ability to think and behave in a normal and rational manner; sound mental health. Can you have french fries with that?Who decides what is rational and normal? I am a telepath and telekinetic, there's no way vanilla humans found me normal._

_Fury massaged his temples, glared at me, then his face became neutral again. "Just… go and change." He waved me off, I winked at him. The man shook his head and just left the locker room._

_*Soon, I will get under his skin.* I giggled._

_I turned to the suitcase, frowned at it and looked at the magnetic card between my fingers. With a tic of my eyes, the black and silvery suitcase floated out of the locker and in the air, flying toward me. It landed at my feet and I crouched to swipe the black card. The suitcase opened with a hiss, a bit of vapor exited it, startling me._

_*Ooookay.* I lifted the lid and saw inside a red plastic bag that I took in my hands after hesitating for a bit._

_I opened it delicately and what I saw was a dark blue jacket, pants and a belt in a fabric close to leather but didn't feel like it. I stretched it and it resisted my super strength, that surprised me! In another plastic bag there were zip-up gauntlets that looked super cool. Continuing to rummage through the suitcase I found kickass robust boots._

_Looking at each piece of the outfit, a smile grew on my face; I shucked my sport clothes in the locker and began to put on this SHIELD unmarked uniform. *I am so stealing this. I need to study the fabric too, I feel that it's special.*_

_There was a mirror in the room, and when I saw my reflection I saw that I was clothed exactly like Daisy Johnson from the Agent of SHIELD TV show. I didn't expect that there would be an earlier version of this uniform. I set my hair free, too bad that I didn't have time to style it. I shrugged and put the card into one of the pouches on my belt._

_After three more minutes of grooming, I exited the locker room and the barrack like building to find Fury still waiting for me._

_Finally she's there, and she took her time huh. His thoughts were full of sarcasm._

_His eyes fell on my cleavage I was showing and he rolled his eyes. "Red zip it up further, please." Fury commanded while pinching the bridge of his nose._

_I chuckled. "No."_

_He glared and mumbled,"If you were my daughter I would bend you over my knee and…"_

_That surprised me, he was seeing a young teen and not a future 'weapon' before him, this Nick Fury was completely different from the one I knew, or was it the director job that changed him and made him even more paranoid? Hard to say._

_"So you are into father/daughter play, I'm not surprised." I shrugged._

_He scowled and turned his back on me, ignoring my quip. "Fine let's go, the open-air testing center is ready to receive you."_

_I followed him, noticing that I got less men looking at me; however, the unmarked uniform showed that I was somehow different from them. Was it a newbie thing? I wasn't joining SHIELD. We got into an armored SUV and went outside the walls. It was thirty minute later when we arrived at yet another walled up place. The difference with this one was that it read simply on a sign 'Weapon and Vehicle Test Area #12' and the walls surrounding it stretched as far as I could see._

_As we were stopped at the entrance and checkpoint, I decided to talk with Fury._

"_There's something I want to ask." I began to speak without preamble, zipping up my vest a little higher after the guy in the guard box leered a bit too much at my cleavage._

_This action made Fury give her an 'I told you so' look before answering her with a, "What is it?"_

_I crossed my arms and looked out of the corner of my eye as I asked, "Why are you bringing me to a weapon test facility? I thought we were going to test my abilities."_

_Fury continued to drive, barely looking at me. He didn't seem surprised by the question at all, in fact it was one I should have asked earlier. Fury decided to answer snidely, "The plan is to test you in a controlled environment, we don't want you to break a nail or something."_

_I turned my head and glared at him. I couldn't believe he was going that route, I was no wall flower; I could get my hands dirty with the better of them! Seeing Fury's smug face as he succeeded in needling made me want to force choke him, but I controlled myself._

_As I calmed down, I answered the slight with another, "Nick, that's sexist."_

_His head whipped toward me and he growled, "That's __**Agent Fury**_ _for you, young lady!"_

"_Sure, Nick." I laughed as his anger visibly rose._

_After this he decided to ignore me and continued to drive until we arrived at our destination. Fury stopped at the border of a rectangular space cut into the ground and in it's depth I could see a… town? No it was the replica of one, there were roads, houses and shops, even a park and it stretched far. There was no one here._

_I turned to Fury who didn't speak, he looked around him, waiting for someone. From the entrance of another building near the entrance of the crater town -yes that's what I'm calling it- I saw another vehicle coming toward us. It was a white truck that reminded me of the one I saw in Knight Rider. It was more accurate to call it a Lab truck, I recognized it._

_The truck stopped at Fury's SUV side._

_The white truck's door suddenly opened and a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes wearing a dark blue SHIELD uniform covered by a white lab coat appeared and jumped out of the vehicle, landing on her feet. She had a big grin splitting her face as she looked at Fury first, then it intensified when her eyes found me._

_She ran toward me and as she was almost about to reach me Fury caught her by her middle. "Eep!"_

_Fury sighed and the energetic middle-aged blonde struggled in his arms."Doctor Wright, calm down please."_

_Some other people were climbing down the truck, forming a chain and taking out equipment and gear out of the vehicle._

_The Doctor pointed her finger at me and shouted, "But! She's here! Look!"_

_I waved at her awkwardly. "Hi?"_

_I shouldn't have because she growled and slammed her foot on Fury's boot who should have worn reinforced one, the pain caused him to release her._

"_See, she wants to talk!" The woman smiled and she walked calmly toward me._

"_Fury what's happening?!" I asked the agent._

_The tall black man waddled toward me and gave a nasty glare at the still grinning doctor. "This is Doctor Wright, she's one of our foremost experts on enhanced individuals."_

_Doctor Wright straightened her chignon and looked at me eagerly, holding her hand to me, and as I took it, she introduced herself."It is a pleasure meeting you, Miss Grey. I am Adela Wright, my goal in life is to study people like you."_

_I sensed no deceit in her, just anticipation and… admiration? It wasn't easy to pin down her emotions._

_But another thing struck me. *Wow, she didn't even think of the M word.*_

_People who knew about me in SHIELD have been thinking Mutant this and Mutant that since they have become aware of me; well, Phil and Peggy didn't, but it irked me. I nodded to her and shook her hand firmly._

"_Delighted."_

_This opened the floodgates as the good Doctor began to speak, "I've done a lot of research on people wielding paranormal and esoteric abilities; empowered people as well. SHIELD offered me resources to do so. Unfortunately, I'm not widely known and can't publish my findings, as my research is currently classified." She sounded really sad and disappointed when she said that, the good doctor glared at Fury as if he was responsible._

_I expressed my commiseration to her, "I feel for you, you should be recognized for your work."_

_She sighed heavily, still glaring at Fury who stayed silent. "Indeed I should, but the brass won't let it happen."_

"_Something tells me that in the future it won't be so doctor." I decided to keep in contact with this woman, she might become handy later. I looked meaningfully at Fury, he doesn't know what's truly gonna happen._

_Doctor Wright shrugged and then took my arm to pull me toward the mobile lab that was the truck. Then they began to put sensors and captors on me; Doctor Wright explained to me that it used Wifi, some new technology available to connect their analysis equipment to their computer and the subject (me). She was really happy about it, because before I would be fitted with sensors connected to the analysis equipment with cables._

"_So impractical." Doctor Wright nodded as I expressed my opinion about it._

_"We will start with the first test that we called : Destroy as much as you can. It's basically letting you do what you want while we are analyzing what you are doing." Doctor Wright explained as she placed the last of the sensors on my body._

_"I feel like a Christmas tree." I couldn't help but let the whining tone in my voice escape._

_It felt uncomfortable to have so many things sticking onto me directly on my skin. Then I registered what the good doctor said and looked at her with stars in my eyes. "Wait… I can destroy everything in there?" I jumped up with excitement. _

_Doctor Wright nodded eagerly. "Yes, as much as you can!"_

_I let psionic energy fill my body and my mind and let loose as much as I could of my aura. A red haze surrounded me, my hair floated around my head. "This is the best day of my life!"_

_Fury, Doctor Wright and the technicians stepped back from. I felt a myriad of emotions coming from them, fear, awe, interest…_

_"So I can start now?" I was all ready to go._

_Crater town was already smoldering and in ruins in my head. I had too many choices, I could use TK pressure to crush everything around me, or use some kind of wave or beam attack, even force-field constructs! _

_I was about to jump in the fake city when Fury's voice interrupted me. "Hold up Grey!"_

_I almost fell at the edge of the crater, straightening myself, I turned and looked at the black man. "Yes?"_

_He smiled at my little misadventure, the asshole. "I wanted to say that all this will be recorded and analyzed, give your best." He says to me._

_As if I couldn't see behind his intent. They would try to see which level of threat I was. _

_"Oh, sure." Not! Hell, no! I'm not going to go full power, I don't want them to be aware of everything I can do!_

_I slammed my fist in my open palm and I cracked my knuckles. Then I looked at the fake city with an analytical eye. I jumped. _

_Slowing my descent with a bit of levitation, I landed near a blue pick up truck parked near what appeared to be a gas road's edges were not well taken care of and the place looked like a run down ghost town. There were houses everywhere and vehicles, I spread mental detection and telekinetic fields around me. There was no one here so far, but I felt that the cars and houses were hollow inside._

_*Everything is fake.* It was like being on the set of a movie._

_Here I could unleash the most devastating of the abilities and skills I have thought of, but still not giving enough for them to categorize me as a WMD. I focused my psionic energy in my hand as I looked at the gas station and raised it. A giant construct made of red energy manifested before me in the form of a hand palm and flew at high speed toward the building._

_CRASH._

_I left a big imprint in the shop and one of the pillars supporting the roof of the open station crumbled. *Hmm, not fast enough.*_

_With a low kick another construct swept the rest of the gas station clean. I looked at the blue truck and seized it with my will and crushed it, in a matter of ten seconds it became a ball of blue metal that gradually became more compact. It compacted so fast that it generated heat. As I reduced its size, the ball turned into incandescent plasma that I treated as a projectile. It flew in a straight line and devastated everything in its path, trees, houses, car and it kept going. _

_From far away I heard an explosion. *It's a bit like the railgun, huh. But slower.*_

_I decided to walk the road I released my psionic energy outwardly, generating an orb of massive telekinetic force that spread around me for one hundred meters crushing, cutting and deforming the landscape. Houses, cars and trees, the very ground I walked on cracked or was utterly smashed._

_*And this is what I consider ten percent.*_

_I hoped SHIELD was recording this, just that little show was proving that their initial contact with me could have cost them._

_There were still things left to wreck and I wanted to test my limit by allowing myself to let loose a little. I lifted the lid a bit on my well of power, oh so slowly; my aura intensified slightly, as I let my energy fill me I arrived at that threshold that I felt when I was about to lose control, but I still pushed a little more and then I stopped._

_I felt stronger, I could see and hear farther; I felt… *Super.*_

_Looking in the direction of downtown I was suddenly running at super speed, blurring on the road avoiding the cars turned obstacles. It was too fast! I tried to brake but I had to jump in the air and levitate myself to slowly decelerate._

"_Okay, I need more training for this new strongest setting!" The last time gave me a lot of scrapes and bruises as I went face first into things._

_Landing on the ground before the town hall, I looked around me. There was something I wanted to try since I remembered Iron man's unibeam. I always wanted to have some kind of beam attack for long range assault; I know that I am able to do it, but how much energy will it cost? I shrugged._

_I held my hands before me and braced myself with my legs firmly on the ground. I focused my will and gave form to the image I had in my head, it was a bit like in streetfighter. That iconic attack that Chun Li uses. As I thrust my palms toward the town's hall, psionic energy focused into them; however, something weird happened, it wasn't pure psionic energy that was expelled from them but some kind of… fire? As the surging energy wave reached the walls it punched through them as if they were paper._

_I sustained the attack and realized that I could direct it with my hands. I laughed as I began destroying everything around me. Shops, parks and vehicles went up in flames. And as I stopped myself, I asked myself if my little bit of sudden pyrokinesis was something brought out by my contact with the Phoenix._

_*I am sure it is, she's really meddling…*_

_I looked at the flame, they didn't look like normal fire. Well, maybe it's accidental cosmic Pyrokinesis? Phoenix told me I wasn't ready, but she was still influencing my abilities. The fire consumed everything quickly and left nothing, not even ash._

_What was worse is that I didn't even feel tired, I judged that I was somewhat at twenty percent of my maximum. I realized that I was dangerous because I didn't push myself enough and didn't feel any strain. Nodding I decided to call it quits, and ran toward the edge of the testing area. It was a straight line to it and when I arrived where I landed I jumped in the air, levitated a bit as it was ten meter long climb and found myself looking at scared technicians, a smiling Doctor and Fury who held on his pistol at his waist._

_"So what do you think?" I waved my hand toward the fake town._

_There was smoke and half destroyed landscape. Jumping up and down, Doctor Wright walked up toward me and took my hand eagerly. "This was scary! And exciting! Do you realize that we noticed multiple types of energy that you generated that we don't have names for?"_

_Cosmic and Psionic energy. I planted the suggestion in her head via telepathy, I didn't want her to change things from canon and give them a ridiculous name._

_"Hum, that's your job to name them, Doc, right?" I gave her a thumbs up. _

_She jumped excitedly. "Yes it is! And I thank you for letting me discover them!"_

_Damn I liked that peppy woman."You're welcome Doc."_

_Fury carefully walked up to me. He looked unsure, then stared at the half destroyed town. "Red… nice job here. How do you feel after all that?"_

_I focused on his thoughts and memories. Peggy was right again, if we had attacked first we would have lost most if not all the taskforce we had sent to accompany her._

_He was already coming up with ways of trying to contain me or neutralize me in his head. Did he not realize that I could see what he thought? Did he think that I needed physical contact for that? Maybe to manipulate his memories and his mind but not to access them._

_I flexed my muscles and gave him a silly smile. "Not even tired, I could have done that all day I think."_

_Fury massaged his temples as he thought about the report he will have to write about me."What a… scary thought."_

_So at my current setting I could demolish a small town. "Ok." But what I wanted to be able to do were the subtle stuff, firepower was good but I wanted to be able to do the more esoteric things that I know Jean Grey is able to do like matter transmutation. That shit would help me kickstart my more challenging projects._

_I will have time. _

_"What's next?" I looked eagerly at the black man and the doctor._

_The technicians began to open the armored grey cases they have been lugging out of the mobile laboratory. I saw them taking out small.. weapons? Were they going to fire at me with them?_

_Fury began to rub his hands together, really eager to see how tough I was. But I didn't understand the reason why, it was deeply rooted in that paranoid mind of his. The agent turned toward me. "Now it's our turn to test our weaponry against you. The name of this test is called: How tough are you?"_

_My brow furrowed. "I don't know…" That was not good, the glint of interest in his eyes didn't reassure me at all._

_"Then we are about to discover it." He said with a nod, he then went to doctor Wright and the technicians and shouted, "Bring the pitching machine!"_

_*The what?*_

**# # #**

I wrung the soaked cleaning cloth in the bucket, having finally finished cleaning the dojo's furniture. The weapon racks were particularly dusty- I even noticed some of them having flecks of blood on them- but I subtly made them disappear by atomizing them. I didn't want anyone to bring in my favorite sensei. Elektra was a pain in the ass, a controlling and unrelenting taskmaster, but she meant well.

She always pushed me to exploit my full potential and encouraged me by telling me that there are no limits to what I could do, and that I simply needed time to arrive to her level of proficiency. So much that I've begun to implicitly trust her, her mind was full of concern for me after all; so much that two weeks ago I caved and decided to give her context about my troubles.

Elektra didn't take it well at first, the fact that I was a telepath. She had wondered how many of her secrets I obtained, and how much of her past I knew. Well let's say I had to tell her everything I knew about her, or thought that I knew. Her dad had died but she still had her mother in Greece, she had divorced him and now had remarried with some guy who owned a company. This was a major divergence from her path on Earth-616, showing me yet again that I was in a different timeline and not the main one.

I told everything I could to Elektra, about my Telekinesis, Telepathy, and the thing I did to survive from getting kidnapped. In her mind I even dared to show her my nemesis, Sinister and the things he planned to do to me. To say that she had been pissed is a major understatement, mid conversation she had went to the punching bag and bled out some aggression, and I had stayed silent while waiting she cooled off.

From one side we have Elektra, who the Hand wanted back, then me who some creep wannabe mad scientist wanted to experiment on and breed to create some super innovade who would be able to help him break the bonds his master has on him. There were some parallels in our life stories, someone looked to control us and abuse us for our abilities.

After I gave her time, Elektra had agreed for a cooperation between us; I help her with the Hand and she helps me get stronger against the Sinister pale fucker.

She let me siphon her and replicate her knowledge and skills to speed up my learning. She knew all of my abilities and capabilities. I didn't feel any deceit from her, and I began to trust her implicitly. It's because I am a telepath that I know that I could.

I took the bucket filled with dirty water and walked toward the door giving way to the outside courtyard. The Dojo was located on the roof of a tall building, at least it was the personal space of Elektra. At the ground floor there was a gym, on the first floor an acupuncture clinic and on the second living space for Elektra's asian friend who owned this building on paper, I understood that it was a base of operation for her and the Dojo and connected comfy apartment she rented.

I didn't even know what her day job was… Shrugging slightly, I walked to the sliding door to spill the dirty water on the gravel covered roof's.

Step, step, step.

Someone was at the door, and it didn't feel like… no this impression of repressed anger, and loneliness were familiar. The sliding door opened abruptly, knowing the score already I put the bucket on the ground and stepped back. Matt Murdock appeared, unmasked and in his Daredevil costume, he looked surprised when he noticed my presence.

We stood in silence for a time before I decided to break the ice. "Hi, Devil. I told you we would meet again."

He gasped when he heard my voice.

I felt his intention and anger before his sudden attack, with a burst of super speed I backed away from his billy-club strike by jumping in the air in a somersault and landed on my feet. He charged me, but avoiding him gave me the time to fill my body with psionic energy. I centered myself, like Elektra taught in her Qi Gong lesson and let my energy flow; causing me to open the lid on well of power by half.

The world around me slowed, this was the tenth time that I've been able to do so.

I sidestepped Matt's flying kick and with good timing inflicted upon him a well placed palm strike with enough strength that sent him flying back to his original place, at the door. I heard him land on the gravel. I walked to the door and projected a force-field covering the entire entrance. Matt recovered fast and tried to enter again but was stopped by the field on which he began to furiously beat down.

*Well he is contained for now.*

I took a huge breath and shouted vocally and mentally, "SENSEI, your boyfriend is here!"

When I heard heavy stomping coming from the connected apartment, I let the force-field go down and Matt entered, ready to attack me. I tensed but as his billy-club was about to reach for my head I didn't move.

_Clang_!

A Sai blocked the club from smashing my head. Elektra reached me in time, just as planned, or else I would have evaded the strike.

"Elektra?" Matt stepped back, but his hand still gripped his billy-club that he separated to form dual billy clubs which he wielded in an Eskrima-like fashion.

He stood on guard, looking at any movement his beautiful paramour was making.

"Matt, my agapi (love)." My sensei acknowledged with a nod.

The two relaxed at the same time, but not quite disarming yet. Elektra twirled her Sai and hid it somewhere on her person. I so wanted to know this trick! Even with having replicated her skills and knowledge there were things I had problems doing because I simply didn't have the same physical conditioning or experience.

Matt glared at me with sightless eyes, pointing at me with one of his clubs. "What is she doing here?"

His tone was demanding, it didn't bode well for Elektra. I didn't want to cause any friction in her couple.

"Hum, so, he remembers me, sensei?" I asked helpfully.

She turned toward me, frustration gleaming in her eyes. But through my empathy, I felt that there was some kind of determination toward a goal she set for herself. There was a story there, and as I promised to not enter her mind without permission I couldn't see what it was.

She nodded. "Yes, now Jean, why don't you go take a bite in the apartment?" Elektra pointed a finger toward the door leading to the apartment conjoined to the Dojo.

*Ah the adults need to speak alone and I am being dismissed like a spoiled child. I can't wait to finally be eighteen again.* I lamented.

"Sure." I nodded, sending a grin to Matt. I slightly bowed to my sensei and retired from the dojo while skipping.

**# # #**

**(Elektra Natchios)**

She watched her disciple leave, and then turned to Matt who suddenly held onto his belly painfully and spit blood on the clean dojo's wooden floor. Concerned, Elektra went to hold on her boyfriend. Matt put his arm around her shoulders and swiftly walked up to the closest wall and leaned him against it to sit.

"You fought with Jean?" It wasn't a question, more of a rhetoric one.

There was a reason Elektra never let herself be hit when Jean was powered up, and it was one the reasons she made her train without her powers. She needed to regain control of her body. The proof was here laying at her feet.

"You mean Phoenix." Matt coughed up blood again.

Matt didn't know how to deal with the fact that he was made to be on the rope by a teenage girl! *A teenage girl!*

Elektra had an idea of what her boyfriend was thinking as she watched the different emotion flash across his attractive face. She crouched at Matt's side, her hand on his cheek. "Same thing." The vigilante stared at her in anger.

"What is… she doing here?" He wheezed, but the question was made more insistent by Matt's tone.

Elektra had told Matt to come as she intended to introduce him to someone she was training, however, she didn't anticipate that he would attack Jean on sight. She felt a headache coming on. "She's my disciple."

Surprise and utter shock was evident across his face. He felt so much disbelief he couldn't talk. Then the familiar anger reared back which he held onto, shouting, "I told you to stay away from her, she's dangerous!"

"You do not order me, Matthew Murdock." Elektra clipped out, flatly.

Matt was locked in a battle with Elektra, staring into her eyes for a long time. He was stubborn, but not suicidal nor an idiot. He sighed, and inhaled and exhaled many times till he felt his pulse slow unzipped his costume at the front and took off his gloves.

"Why?" Matt leaned even more against the wooden wall and placed his billy-clubs at his side.

As for Elektra, she sat at his side and simply answered with, "She needs help."

This was all there was to it. Elektra knew her disciple still held onto crucial information, but she decided to still help her. It was her duty as a Master, she wanted to do better than the like of Stick whose style of teaching she didn't like. Jean reminded the assassin of herself- emotional, full of passion and dedication to the art.

Matt frowned. The dull pain he felt in his abdomen reminded him that Phoenix, Jean whatever her name was that she was dangerous and deadly. "Her? Did you see how strong she is?"

Elektra nodded."And her enemy is even more powerful."

The silence that descended was deafening. Knowing her boyfriend like she did, Elektra waited for when his saving people things would kickstart, and she wasn't disappointed.

"Explain." Matt's baritone voice became once more commanding, and his bare hand reached for her face to determine what expression she wore.

He noticed when she smiled thinly at him.

"I cannot." Elektra announced.

"Why?"

Elektra shook her head. "I promised her." The assassin felt Matt's desire to help, but he didn't know the depths of the task he would set upon.

They were speaking about a realm of power that was certainly beyond them, super strength, telepathy, energy manipulators. Jean's enemy was powerful in his own right, but he surrounded himself with others that he experimented on or gathered.

*At least that's what she told me.* Elektra mused on the possibility that she was given an edited version of Jean's story.

The assassin continued to speak and explain why she invited Matt to come tonight. "Do you know why I told you to come here? I wanted to help you work out your differences with Jean... but you attacked her on sight, Matt."

The woman put a stray wick of hair behind her ear, looking on in disappointment at her boyfriend who felt it in her voice and on her face as he touched it, tracing it with his fingers.

Elektra was worried about Matt; if he continued to antagonize Jean he might find himself crippled. The redhead might seem like a simple teenager, but the assassin had seen how she was under pressure and how cunning she really was. Not to mention her manipulative traits too.

She decided to warn Matt. "She's incredibly dangerous and merciless to her perceived enemies. I've been teaching her... _moderation_, but now that I look at how she took you down with brute force, I need to _tighten_ the screws on her."

Elektra thought she had beat that bad habit out of her disciple. There was no way she would let Jean become a brute. Her powers and fighting form should be used with finesse and cunning; Elektra didn't have a choice now, she had been too soft on Jean.

*She also needs an ass kicking.* Elektra secretly thought as she didn't like how brutal Jean had been with her lover.

Another silence installed itself between them, but their intimacy and body language showed them that there was no problem between them anymore. Matt seemed to grudgingly accept the situation, but he felt that he should keep an eye on Jean.

Matt stood up slowly, using the wall he leaned against, he was still holding his abdomen, a painful rictus on his face.

He leaned on the wall as he asked, "I… how can I help?"

This was the Matt Murdock she knew and loved. She put her hand on his arm and let it glide on until their hands touched. The vigilante smiled at her and stood straighter.

*He is so easy to encourage.* Elektra smugly said in her heart.

Matt didn't need eyes to see what people truly were, sooner or later their inner goodness would shine true or their true evil would be revealed. Elektra liked that the man she loved saw beyond the assassin she was.

"Follow me my love." Elektra purred.

She pulled him toward the door leading to her living space, their steps echoing in the dojo as some wooden panels grinding under their them. Elektra slowly turned the handle, and pushed open the door. It was a seven room apartment, the concrete walls painted red and white, the decorations on them were mostly asian in nature; weapons, scrolls with calligraphy or simply artworks showing either Greek's mythological or asian paintings.

They furthermore entered the place hearing the pop music in the air.

_ I think I did it again_

_I made you believe we're more than just friends, oh, baby_

_It might seem like a crush_

_But it doesn't mean that I'm serious  
_

As they looked for a certain redhead, they walked into the tasteful living room that was separated to the kitchen by a wooden counter. They finally located their quarry who hummed under the kotetsu before the TV playing Britney Spears song. She was also reading a book avidly. There was a bowl of filling beef Katsudon at her book's side half started.

Jean must have sensed their presence as she turned her head to the couple, smiled at them and indicated with a wave for them to near.

When they finally approached, the redhead bluntly asked, "Are you two still together? "

Elektra nodded, she knew that their relationship may not have survived this spat, if Matt didn't want to listen. Jean nodded back and closed her book whose title was visible, 'What mad pursuit' by Francis Crick. Elektra furrowed at this, meanwhile Jean quickly put her book in her school bag. She had come straight to the dojo after after school and borrowed this book from her school library.

"So, what's gonna happen right now?"

Matt walked up to Jean, while Elektra took in this scene with trepidation. He held his hand out before him. "Hello my name is Matt, nice to meet you."

Elektra nearly squealed, pride enveloping her. But it also depended on Jean to let bygones be bygones, and before taking a decision she looked at the Greek assassin who nodded vehemently at her. To accept the hand held in succour.

"Jean." She raised her hand, taking Matt's and shaking at this moment, Elektra was full of hope for the future as she gazed upon this scene.

"This just might work." she mumbled silently.

**# # #**

**(Nick Fury)**

**October 23rd 1996  
Cerberus Security  
10:05 AM**

Nick Fury was a tolerant man. He had led men and women to the best of his abilities when he was still part of the US military; some of them had been prideful, egotistic and dangerous. It had been like trying to herd cats. However, now he looked on fondly at those moments in his life because the last six weeks have been aggravating!

Jean Grey was really difficult to handle. It didn't help that she was too powerful and _informed_ for his tastes. She acted as if she had known him for years, even anticipating everything he did. To the paranoid Fury, this rang several warning bells which his superior, and friend, Director Carter seemed to ignore. It didn't help that Phil Coulson became simply enthralled with the young redhead who he kept treating like a surrogate daughter. He taught her how to shoot weapons and even offered her training. Fortunately, she had refused to take him up on that training, though Grey's score at the shooting range showed she was an awesome shot it seemed.

He had also noticed how she wandered the facilities and spoke with people, mainly the support staff and scientist. Certainly, she was the friendly sort but her folder told a different story. Jean Grey was supposed to be asocial and aloof, not at all interested in knowing others.

As he walked to the briefing room, Fury was reviewing the information gathered on the young woman for the last six weeks. She is friends with a Jessica Jones nee Campbell, sixteen and adopted recently by Alisa Jones. The young woman seems to be an enhanced human like Jean Grey, but the agents investigating them weren't 100% sure. Then there's Patricia Jones nee Walker, fourteen, adopted by the same Alisa Jones at three years old.

At school she suddenly befriended Gwendolyne Stacy, sixteen, a genius in the making from what he learned about her scholastic file. Cindy Moon, Korean-American, sixteen, hockey player and another smart girl like Stacy, she's also Jean's Grey girlfriend. Then there was Peter Parker, sixteen, originally a bullied kid, though he seems that the bullies steer clear from him now that he had a sudden proficiency in close quarter combat; a passable acquaintance who didn't seem to like Jean Grey for some kind of reason.

And then there was Grey's sudden proficiency in close quarter combat that worried him. Fury saw what happened in the gym of their very headquarters, how she had taken down one of their most skilled agents as if he was just a mere rent-a-cop, the fight had lasted five seconds, and after that she laughed it off and helped the man stand up.

There was something brewing, Fury was sure of it. Though, he couldn't put his finger on what it was exactly. He will find what Grey was scheming sooner or later. If he was following his instinct he would assume she was trained as a spy or something. He chuckled at that leap in logic but it couldn't be that. It was tempting, to try to make her part of SHIELD and the power that she showed at her first test that had made the scientists salivate could be channeled for the good of the country.

But he knew better, this young woman was too dangerous to let free without supervision; he dreaded what she could do if she ever got pissed off.

Fury exited the elevator giving access to Director's Carter office, presented his accreditation to the agents with heavy weapons guarding the door and he was let in. The guards are a recent addition due to Jean Grey's existence in the event that she ever became hostile. Though it's not like they would be able to stop her, just merely slow her down for the Director to flee in a secret high speed elevator.

When Doctor Wright discovered that she couldn't get any blood from Jean by trying to pierce her skin, she discovered that a thin yet powerful force-field covered her skin. It even bent Adamantium needles. This didn't deter the good doctor who settled for Grey's hair. The young girl had been reluctant and asked to be there when she studied it, but if her sample ever mysteriously disappeared she would never let them study her powers again.

That had been strange but not out of the ordinary for Grey. She had a healthy dose of paranoia in her and Fury could respect that.

SHIELD was already coming up with a weapon able to pierce the force-field Grey was able to generate, but so far nothing worked as of yet. Fury focused on the here and now, and announced his presence with a cough.

"Fury." Peggy released the pen and straightened herself, leaning against her office chair.

Fury nodded. "Ma'am."

Peggy snorted, and made a gesture for him to sit. "Come now, Nick, no need to be formal with me."

"As you wish." He nodded again, facing her when he seated.

Fury promptly placed a folder, at least seven centimetres thick, on her desk. Peggy took it and opened it. The first page displayed a picture of Jean Grey along with a quick description of her. The director put on her glasses and began to read through the pages. Fury watched the woman rake a hand through her hair in frustration.

Peggy then looked at Fury who's expression mirrored hers. "What have you gleaned so far?" She linked her fingers together.

Fury's eyes filled with anger, he raised his hands in the air. "This girl is more slippery than an Eel!"

"Pray tell?" Peggy raised an eyebrow at him.

She was still acting calm and composed but Fury knew her and her eyes were stormy. Fury just showed her the results of inconclusive research. Some things have been off about the girl.

"She's a motherfucking quandary, that's what!" Fury raised from his chair and began to pace around it, prowling like a black panther.

Her brown eyes zeroed-in on the black man, who stopped moving when she speared him with her gaze and said, "Nick, language please ."

"Sorry." He looked down at his feet.

He never liked how she made him feel like a school boy at times like this, and he resisted the habit of putting his hands in his pant suit's pocket lest she would reprimand him again. Peggy's eyes found themselves on the opened folder about Jean Grey and a slight smile appeared on her face.

"Maybe… just maybe there's nothing to worry about Jean, Nick." Fury felt disbelief at her words. The woman made his paranoia seem as though he was just a concerned parent. Fury frowned, his paranoia rising by the second. "Peg, can you hear yourself? Are you trying to... protect her?"

This behavior wasn't normal at all. Phil's was too, in fact he was sure that Grey was the cause of it, why would everyone lower their guards around her? Even professional spies like Peggy Carter? There was something rotten in Denmark.

Peggy closed the folder Fury had just given her and began to say, "No, Nick. But I think there's nothing to fear from her. If we stay in her corner she will…"

Fury scowled at her insinuation. "What? Join our little club? You are delusional!"

Peggy smiled at him, happy that he followed her train of thought. He had it earlier already, so it was easy, but he didn't like the Director's intention at all.

The white haired woman leaned in her seat, elbows on her desk and looked at Fury meaningfully. "She would be a boon to SHIELD."

"Peg, she's not Captain America." Fury couldn't believe he said it, but she annoyed him with her intention.

It was as if he had slapped her and now Fury regretted his outburst. The woman still felt pain at her lost love. Her smile weathered and she looked down for a brief instant.

*I'm truly an asshole.* Fury thought to himself.

There was something in Peggy's eyes that only she could see, she seemed to be looking far away. "That girl, she reminds me of myself sometimes. She's in here not of her own volition, you know. She had told me she would have been perfectly happy living her life without a psycho lusting to experiment on her."

And here was the crux of the situation, Peggy would have been perfectly happy if World War 2 didn't happen. Fury found that she projected on the little redhead. It wasn't good at all.

"Peggy…" He tried to find the words to speak and explain himself.

However, when Peggy raised her hand to stop him from speaking, she looked him in the eyes and told him with all the wisdom she has accumulated in all her long life, "Nick, I know how paranoid you are but sometimes… if there's something I learned in the war is that you must have _faith_."

For once, Fury seemed at a loss for words. There was no snarky retort just silence that stretched for over a minute. He mused over her words, considering them. Loosening his tie, he averted his eyes from Peggy's. "I-I see… but Peggy, I'm still going to watch her. There's something off about her. Shit happens around Jean Grey, she's not entirely on the level."

Peggy shot him a ten gigawatt smile, it was said that others had said the same about herself. "Of course, you know girls have their secrets. But maybe this one has far reaching ones."

Fury clicked his tongue at that and stated his intentions.

"The truth about Grey- I just want to discover it."

Peggy chuckled at that, but as time passed her face became more forlorn. "The truth." The Director sighed. "It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution."

For a long moment there was a pause when suddenly Peggy asked him, "Is there anything else?"

Fury knew when he was dismissed; that jab about Rogers had pissed her off. "No, hum… I will go to work now."

"Excellent, have a good day Nick." Peggy's eyes returned to the folder with information on Jean.

Fury turned heels and as he left his boss' office, felt that discovering what was making Grey tick was a matter of urgency.

**# # #**

**(Nathaniel Essex)**

**Somewhere in Africa  
The same day...**

**WHAM**!

He slammed his fist on the armrest of his black throne, barely creating an indentation in the vibranium. Thwarted! The girl had just thwarted him again! How many times has it been? Countless and since she was a child. A child!

None of his followers had stayed in the room he called his throne room; fearing his wrath. Him, Nathaniel Essex, who has been lauded as one of the greatest men of his time, had had enough.

He was born at Milbury House on the outskirts of London. He gained a full scholarship to Oxford University and later became a biologist in 1859 Victorian England. He developed advanced theories on human evolution and was obsessed with Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, though he felt Darwin and his contemporaries were shackled by too many moral constraints, and that science was beyond morality. Then he met Mary Essex who he had loved deeply, enough to marry her and give her a son.

But the fates hadn't wanted him to possess this kind of joy in his life, as at the age of four his son Adam Essex died from numerous birth defects, including crooked bones and hemophilia. This drove him deeper into his work and his vision on bringing the perfection of the evolution of the human race to the masses.

As a member of London's Royal Society, he, Dr. Essex was regarded, by some, the greatest scientific mind of his generation, and, by others, as a dangerous man twisted by the obsession of his own research. As an atheist, he believed in Darwin's theory of evolution and discovered that humanity was undergoing increasing mutation.

He had come forward and presented his findings. Due to what he called "Essex Factors" in the human genome. Dr. Essex told all his peers that, in the offspring of certain racially superior individuals, these parcels will, within a hundred years or so, mutate.

But he wasn't believed! His theories were mocked by the majority of those he believed were his equals, making him bitter.

It finally came to a head when disclosure of his supposed unorthodox experiment he performed resulted in his ousting from the Royal Society. Even the man who he greatly admired- Charles Darwin- suggested that Dr. Essex sees a physician due to the trauma of losing his son, believing that it was the cause of such change in himself.

Nathaniel had been angry when he had replied to the man that if becoming a monster was what was required for science to progress, then he would become a **monster**.

It all changed when he met En Sabah Nur, Apocalypse, who painfully transformed him into an ageless being of extraordinary pallor, with telekinesis in his Alien Ship, asking him to shed his past name and choose another; taking the new name, "Sinister," Rebecca, his wife's last words to him when he had asked her forgiveness as she died in childbirth.

This couldn't go on; he needed the girl! All she had to do was meet that stupid boy, Summers and make a child with him. After studying their bloodline, Sinister had eventually realized that Summers and Grey's mingled genes would create a mutant of unparalleled power, enough to destroy Apocalypse and thus free him from the yoke of that ancient tyrant

But no, the fates had to refuse him even that.

He had successfully implanted a suggestion into Summers that his perfect woman will be Grey, and he had attempted to do the same to the girl when she activated her X-gene. He had thought she was weak. Malleable. He had made a mistake. She was anything but; her mental shields were strong for her age and she had noticed his intrusion.

Since then, it has been a game of cat and mouse. He had sent clones of his marauders to catch her, but none had returned. Sinister had investigated and discovered that everyone had been turned into vegetables. He had not liked that all and tried a more _mundane _approach to the problem.

It was all in vain.

Even the supposed professionals at _kidnapping _children were thwarted by her, as if she sensed their…

**WHAM**! He slammed his fist again on his armrest.

"Of course that's it!" He had thought her to be a mindling yet effective telepath, but everything she has been doing suggested her inimitable power. Maybe even on par with that idiot in Salem playing house with children.

Sinister waved his hand, and a hologram came to life, displaying a list of contacts. He touched the hard light construct when he found the one who could assist him in crafting a trap to catch that bothersome redhead who didn't know her place. The holographic projector was located into his vibranium throne. His pilfered technology from Apocalypse's spaceship made him virtually untraceable by the likes of SHIELD or HYDRA.

**[Calling Gambit.]**

Remy LeBeau, the white devil. A thief, a murderer and his spy at the heart of the Brotherhood of Mutants belonging to Magneto, one of his most beloved subjects.

Another holographic window opened and the auburn haired man appeared. The scientist could see that Gambit was in a bedroom. It seemed that Sinister had interrupted him as he saw the figure of a woman.

As usual Gambit opened his mouth, ready to play Joker. "Monsieur Sinister, what a magnifique surprise! What is thy bidding, my master?"

Sinister stared back at the thief, arching a brow. "Did you just quote, Darth Vader to me?"

Gambit's red eyes surrounded by a black sclera opened wide. He almost stayed silent for a moment but even he couldn't manage such a feat. "Wow, I am shocked that you even got la référence. Choqué!"

"I am immortal, it doesn't mean that I don't follow pop culture." Sinister argued, almost defensively.

A long moment stretched. Sinister noticed Gambit struggling to not laugh at his face. If he cared about his life he wouldn't. Sinister's clawed fingers hit repeatedly on his armrest and when he clawed at the metal a grinding noise sounded.

With a sigh, the man spoke after calming down. "Ouais, hum what can I do for you."

*Finally, he got back on track. If he wasn't so skilled I would dissect him.*

The scientist crossed his black armored legs, going straight to the point. "I am in need of your talents, young man. I want you to recruit mutants for me who are powerful enough to be able to take down Magneto if you could find them."

Gambit gaped at Sinister. "Boss, are you finally making your move?"

Uncrossing his legs, Sinister leaned towards the window. "Of course not, someone else had been resisting my normal approach."

He had made Gambit infiltrate the brotherhood to keep an eye on the master of magnetism. The terrorist was difficult to track down and as he knew Sinister's existence took measures to elude him and his agents. But the joke was on him when Gambit began his spywork.

"Très bien, I will find people. But it will cost you, Monsieur Sinister." Gambit knew what he was saying to Sinister.

*Indeed it will cost me your cover with the Brotherhood but it is a price I will gladly pay!* Sinister's determination went up. He was sure that his dream of freedom would be soon in the palm of his hands. Apocalypse just had to stay slumbering for a while longer!

Sinister slapped his hand on his armrest and spouted, "I will pay ten times the usual sum."

Gambit eyes widened, he became alarmed. "Something is telling me that you are sending me on a suicide mission."

He didn't want to give more details to the thief, he could try to earn his freedom by negotiating with Magneto, the Grey girl was powerful. "The young woman is vital for my plans, but I agree she's… problematic." Sinister began to say, not wanting to add more.

Gambit shook his head, insisting. "Patron, Monsieur Sinister, could you send me a file on her, s'il vous plaît? I won't do it if you send me in blind."

Sinister threw Gambit a hateful glare. "Fine! But take your job seriously."

With a wave of his hand a file labelled Jean Grey was transmitted to Gambit whose eyes sharpened. After a quick skim skimming, the thief nodded,and waved goodbye at Sinister. "A la prochaine!"

The communication was suddenly cut, and Sinister cursed Gambit. Raising from his throne, the hologram disappeared. He walked up to a teleporter pedestal and was suddenly transported to his laboratory.

Before him were a lot of Health Tanks with subjects in stasis, or embryos in development. One in particular interested him. He had been ecstatic when he found the DNA of this irritating Grey girl on this rooftop in New York. He had thought that he didn't need her then. Sinister's hand reached for the tank and he saw the biological information that was fed on its surface by the computer monitoring the development of the clone.

"Why is fate tormenting me so? You are a failure; your corrupted DNA won't be of any help." He wanted to smash the health tank but something stopped him, yet he didn't know what. He shrugged and turned to his workshop.

As he thought about it, Sinister realized that he needed to create a stasis pod which could contain Jean Grey. Simply sedating her wouldn't be sufficient.

He will get Grey- he must!


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 7**

**October 24th 1996  
14:15 PM**

Finally free! I can't believe they would give us this many exams back to back this month. Leaning tiredly against the hood of my camaro. Cheerful students filled the parking lot, and were really loud, as they mingled enthusiastically. Some went to leave immediately.

I was waiting for my friends, life at school had been rather... normal with them at my side. Jessica and Patsy were awesome to hang with. Cindy, a recent addition to our circle, always followed us. She stuck to me like glue now- not that I was complaining or anything!

Gwen was also part of our circle of friends too, however, she didn't take too well to how Cindy and I were now together. Gwen believed she wasn't worth my time, and the two constantly snipped at each other. Then there was Peter. Ah, my favorite spider.

Peter Parker was my pet project at the moment, and since me and Cindy got together he has mellowed on me, considering me no threat for his design on Gwen. His puppy love for her was cute, compared to the Peter of Earth 616, this one had completely dismissed Mary Jane Watson, thinking of her as a _bitch _and a vapid girl; while he thought that Gwen Stacy was the girl for him, beauty and brain.

He was right of course, it caused me and Peter to become what you could call frenemies? After Gwen blackmailed him into apologizing to me -he was rather reluctant at that time- we now spoke normally to each other. Through barbs and snide comments, I discovered that there was a personality under all those black clothes and sullen look, he was terribly smart too!

The only excuse I got for myself for not trying to get along earlier, was that I avoided him and his negativity because of his behavior and constant grief and guilt. He didn't think much of himself either, but I noticed that Gwen had been working on him and it seems that he has more confidence now. She must have been subtly training him with her… feminine wiles. Though if he didn't resolve his mental problem I would **force **him to.

Feeling the familiar minds of my friends, and Peter, I lifted my head, seeing them exit the school building. Jessica was still in her punk rock phase with pink hair, dressed in a black hoodie and jeans, paired with soft ankle boots. Patsy wore a blue jacket, a white top showing her midriff and knee-length skirt with heels. The younger girl had opted for a more mature style of dress lately, which I believed was a result of my influence and she seeks to emulate me.

It was flattering, but I didn't want to go in her head to know why she did so, and I just shrugged at that. Gwen, the little fairy, was more conservative in her choice of clothing, wearing a green sweater with a brown short pleated skirt and black tights. She wore her hair short in a pixie haircut.

Looking at myself I wore what I considered a trendy outfit, certainly more provocative to the standards of the 90's, a long sleeved and sheer-through black top that I wore under a scarlet red mini-dress with straps, tights and knee-high black boots. If I was fire and stimulation, Gwen was hidden and understated leaves. I admired her for that- I had passed my time in middle school trying to do the same but they still saw me and I got bullied for it.

Nevertheless, she chose to shine with her intellect, instead of her body; a completely different approach. As for Peter, like I said, he was my pet project. He still wore those baggy black things that hid his physique, the idiot. If he cared more about his image he would make great stride into him not being underestimated. What he was doing to himself was concerning enough that it got through my apathy toward him.

At the same time those four approached, I saw my favorite jock do the same on my right. Flash Thompson, and following him was Liz Allan, his girlfriend who scowled at me as she walked up to my car. Uh oh. She was really distinguishable with her round face, pert nose, pale skin and large blue eyes which were now stormy as they met my apathetic emerald green. I've never liked her, and she was the kind of girl I found to be molded by mainstream media and peer pressure in this school. A typical teenager unaware that there's a world outside Midtown High, a dangerous one.

Under Liz's black jacket was her cheerleader costume. As she stomped toward me, her ponytail bobbed right and left, showing how reluctantly she was following Flash. The couple arrived first, and to take control of the conversation I chose to greet them first.

"Hey, Flash." I graced him with a beautiful smile, and waved. Liz glared at that. She felt insecure around me due to my allure and attractiveness. I didn't know why the poor girl assumed I wanted her man. Since he came to apologize to me six weeks ago, Flash has been coming to speak to me more about sport, how his life at home was and I also saw him say sorry and protect the one he bullied from others who had taken the slack from him.

But I knew his attempts at trying to befriend me were just ways to 'bring me back into the fold' with the cool kids. He was still vain like that, thinking that this hierarchy in the school mattered to me.

Flash… flashed me his signature good looking guy smile with gigawatts to spare. "Jean, good afternoon!"

I turned my eyes toward the blonde at his side, raising my chin. "Allan…"

"Grey." Her glare intensified.

The poor Liz Allan owed me her new position of cheerleading captain, and was more busy than usual. I took care of a certain Amanda Smith who had waged a campaign of bad rumors pertaining to myself, of course it was all slander. I had to dig up her activity and start a rumor of my own, one that in fact wasn't one. The cheerleaders organized after game private orgies with the football team.

I simply cloaked, becoming invisible and took a polaroid camera. I had fun taking compromising pictures of everyone getting it on. My first reflex would have been to cover the walls of the school with them but I decided to not drive those girls and players to suicide or something such and I simply let an envelop with the pictures inside on the principal's desk, strongly compelling him into calling the parents of everyone and to expel them all.

With carefully disseminated rumors, I let everyone know what happened. Even though the school had wanted to keep everything hush hush, everyone now knew what happened. One of the reactions this has caused was that all the things said about me seemed to have been dismissed and everyone was more neutral toward me.

Back to Liz Allan, the new cheerleader team was even more supervised now, because of that previous bad business. It has caused the faculty and teaching staff of giving more _awareness _on sex-ed to the student body, and damn- those classes were embarrassing. Poor Patsy came back at lunch one day red like a tomato.

Liz was now the new cheer team captain and under even more scrutiny, her best friend, Mary Jane had followed her to help her; that redhead was strangely a good friend but an utter bitch to those she considered beneath her.

The new captain had suspicions that I was involved in what happened to the previous team; my stunt of revealing their secrets when they tried to make me 'know my place' when I first got here last year was still legendary and in the mind of everyone. She wasn't the first one to have made that leap in logic.

Some of those smart cookies were wary of me, with reasons.

"So what do you want, Flashy?" I finally asked. I have a date with a cute asian chick and I will be damned if I missed it.

Flash passed his hand in his hair, hesitating before speaking. Liz Allan kept glaring at me as if I had stolen her first born.

Flash found his balls and was about to speak. "Hum… Jean, I wanted to ask you and…"

But he was interrupted by my favorite spider. "What's Flash doing here? Grey, is he bothering you?" Peter stood between me and Flash.

With his short brown hair flowing in the wind and hazel eyes boring into the ex-bully, he stood defiantly up to Flash. I couldn't understand the guy sometimes, and I am a telepath. One moment he was being an asshole to me, and in another he was all protective, acting like a knight.

"Nah, Pete he was telling me what he wanted." I touched Peter's arm and let weak feelings of appreciation and peace flow. His body posture that was coiled like a spring relaxed little by little.

Flash wasn't deterred by the aggressive interruption. Peter was one of the first people he apologized to, and of course the spider didn't buy it, but grudgingly accepted it. Aunt May raised a good kid. So far, Flash didn't relapse in his bad habits. It seemed that my little calibration stuck.

"Hey Parker." Flash genuinely was happy to see Peter, the two of them were friends with Harry Osborn to various degrees. I still don't understand why; the guy was a fucker. He was vain and thought that his daddy's money would always save him or something, and he dated Mary Jane Watson- a sure sign of his character to me.

Peter glared at the jock. "You…"

He was interrupted by another feminine hand on his other arm, turning his head toward the person he shut up and held his tongue. I smiled, Gwen was finally there and she controlled Peter like the puppy he was. Did I forget to say that he looked like Tom Holland? But he has more of a bad boy atmosphere around him since his uncle died.

"Hello, Gwen." Flash recognized one of the girls he considered my 'hangers on,'and his smile was more subdued with her.

"Eugene." Gwen gave him an elegant nod, there was a smile on her heart shaped face and her blue eyes were twinkling.

Flash winced, going with Flash as he hated his first name. Peter A small smile appeared on Peter's face at the jock's discomfort. Jessica, Cindy and Patsy arrived and the crowd was suddenly too much. It was time to cut short this charade.

"So Flash, what was it you were about to say before mister broody interrupted you?"

Peter looked hurt as he stared at me, his puppy dog eyes wide. "Hey!"

I gave him an evil smile and he glared at me, not really seriously. He knew that I liked needling him. It was one of my new past times since he and Gwen migrated to my circle of friends at lunch. I tried- really tried- to see past his emo-like tendencies and see the geek and budding scientist behind all the self loathing he felt.

"Shush, Pete." Gwen whispered to him.

Flash gave me a nod of approval, still assuming my friends were like his : my underlings. Even though I helped him turn a new leaf he still had those assholistic behavior.

Flash coughed and began to lay out his cards. "I wanted to invite you and your friends to the halloween party at Harry's."

One of my eyebrows raised. "Osborn?"

I hated the guy- him and his father on sight. He had a hard on for Peter which creeped me out. Flash chuckled at me, "You know another one?"

I harrumphed, "Yeah but let's not go there, one moment please." I raised a hand, interrupting him as he was about to talk.

He nodded and Liz placed a possessive arm around his waist, making him look at her. He reciprocated, making her happy when he kissed her brow. Then she looked smugly at me as if it mattered that Flash was affectionate with her.

My gaze fell on the asian girl who had subtly moulded herself to me, her left hand already in mine. She beamed a smile at me and felt all gooey inside.

"Cindy, love, would you want to go?" I asked her loudly enough.

I didn't hide my relationship with her at school, however, I compelled everyone to stay silent about it at school beside my friends. I know how her mother in canon had reacted to her having a secret boyfriend, so what would be her reactions if she knew her daughter had a same sex romantic relationship? I don't want to know, but I took… precautions.

Cindy smiled, her face now close to mine she briefly kissed my lips and said, "Sure."

*What a little minx.* I smiled back at her.

My head turned to my best friends. "Jess, Pats?"

"Urgh, do we have to?" Jessica asked in a whining tone, stomping her foot on the ground and crossing her arms sulkily.

I rolled my eyes. That girl needed a social life. Fortunately, I could count on Patsy to steer her big sister on the right path.

Patsy lunged at her sister, held on one of her arms, jumped up and down excitedly and asked with a cute smile, "Sis, let's go it might be fun!"

It took ten second, but she caved as her sister imploring gaze got through her. "Fine!" She raised her hand to placate the girl.

Sucker. I said to her through our telepathic link as I looked at her with a shit eating grin. Jessica glowered at me, harrumphed and ignored me, it made me laugh harder.

It was Peter's turn and when everyone looked at him, he shrunk on himself, ready to refuse. "Sorry I-"

"Peter, you are going with us." Steel coated my voice.

He looked defiant as he met my eyes. The poor boy thought he could stare me down? I let my eyes slightly glow, then a smile quirked on my lips.

He rolled his eyes, but he was the first to avert them. He sighed heavily, still reluctant. "Yes, okay I'm going. Only if Gwen-"

He banked on the fact that Gwen might want to study instead of wanting to come; he would be dissuaded of that, as I looked at the short blonde girl she instantly sunk his excuse, "I will be available, don't worry Pete."

Peter clicked his tongue, and mumbled something about the women in his life. It made all the girls present, including myself, giggle at his troubles.

Coming back to Flash I told him, "We are coming Flash, if it's a halloween party I suppose that we must come costumed?"

Smiling, Flash held tighter on Liz. "You'd be right, Jean."

Giving me the address, he told us to look cool. I almost thought that it was a Carrie scenario, but as I perused through their thoughts I saw that their invitation was genuine. Apparently, I was an 'in' girl at school now. *As if I cared.*

The meeting devolved into platitude and the two boys present tried to out-testerone each other, but the gathering broke as Peter had to take his bus. Gwen's mother came to pick her up and I had to bring Jessica and Patsy back home.

I was super excited because of my date with Cindy. It had to be perfect. She claimed shotgun before anyone else and entered the copilot side.

Jessica rolled her eyes at Cindy, and Patsy shook her head, giving me a sidelong glance. Yes, it was time to try to bring Cindy on board with my secret. Now was the moment to see if she could handle the truth about me. I'd have to break up with her if she couldn't.

**# # #**

**Regal UA Midway  
30 minutes later…**

It didn't take long to drop my friends off home, and to drive to the Center. Cindy and I bought M&M's and candies that we stashed in our bags before going to the theaters. I had been making my queendom there since Jessica and Patsy showed me it's wonders and now I went to do my shopping here. Though the mall SHIELD had stashed us in still looked as good.

After a good dose of begging on my part and doing everything she wanted, mom had decided to trust me and lifted my punishment, but I still had a curfew of 11 PM. It allowed me to talk with Cindy on the phone or work on my notes, about what I wanted to do for my startup company and my plan to free innovade from hatred and bigotry. I started to gather knowledge and useful skills that would allow me to reach the first steps of my goal.

I first began by siphoning knowledge and skills from Doctor Wright who had a doctorate in genetics and pharmaceutical science. When she had begun examining me for her research, I jumped on the occasion to replicate her knowledge. Copying so much information had given me a small headache but now I had everything needed to start up when I would be older. I had also done the same for the computer and mechanical engineers of SHIELD and the class of agents called _infiltrators_ that deal with breaking and entering without people knowing, as well as collecting information.

Thanks to my new knowledge, I also found a lot of... Hydra plants. I was compiling a mental list of all of them in my mental palace and the room dedicated to my mental diary. I couldn't take the risk that anyone found a physical copy, after all SHIELD has bugged my place and they often do searches… extensive ones, everywhere in the penthouse. I had no privacy, a problem I needed to mend.

It wasn't time to talk shop; my awaited second date with Cindy was here! We were in the queue before the counter, deciding which movie to settle on.

Cindy poked my arm, then pointed at the poster with Will Smith written on it _'Independence Day_.'

"This one?" I had a knowing grin on my face.

Cindy nodded, her eyes lit up with excitement by the prospect. "Yeah, I've been wanting to go see it since last summer." She then held on my hand, her body close to mine.

I already knew how the events in this movie were going to happen, but the smile and eagerness of Cindy got to me. The choice was made and then I asked her, "You like Will?"

She was attracted to men too I realized, Cindy wasn't bi but more pansexual in my opinion. It did not bother me, because I knew that it was me that was in her thoughts all the time. An advantage in being a telepath.

"Yeah, he is funny." She blushed, brushing back her short hair. How cute.

Cindy and I advanced as the queue was clearing fast. So did the people, taking advantage of the booths selling candies and popcorn.

"You have excellent tastes, Cindy." I praised her, kissing her on the cheek. "Of course." She said smugly with a posh accent. Then chuckled with upturned eyes as she looked at me.

I too chuckled at her antics. We quickly went into the theater room, and as we filed to our seats I found it different how going to the cinema was in the 90's compared to the two thousands; you could bring your food and not be forced to buy the expensive food sold at the theater. But to stay in the spirit of the classics, we still bought a popcorn bucket for the two of us.

Cindy took my hand in hers and dragged me to the darkest part of the room in the last row of seats, while I lugged the popcorn bucket with a lot of butter. Fortunately, there weren't a lot of people maybe twenty or so that were playing catch up like Cindy.

"Argh I hate those promotional ads before the movie starts." she crossed her arms and pouted while biting her lower lips in frustration.

"You saw nothing yet." I said enigmatically.

Cindy tilted her head confusingly at me, shrugged and began to stroke the inside of my palm with her thumbs. The girl often ignored some of my quirks, I didn't know if that was good or bad.

About the constant bombardment of ads, those will get even more ludicrous in the coming years. The consumerism that is slowly taking over the USA and the rest of the world will cause the famous crash of 2009, but I think in this dimension it could happen at any moment as the events have been different from my other self's prime world. I will capitalize on it, of course.

Placing the popcorn bucket between us, we slowly talked about things; her life with her strict mom, her passion with hockey and the stress she felt when her parents pushed her to become more 'studious.' The poor girl had it rough, my heart felt for her, so much that I put a hand on her arm and promptly began to stroke it slowly.

Cindy leaned her head on my shoulder, then it was my turn to speak about my life. I began with Annie, my first friend.

"She was the sister I wished I could have, sure I had my elder sister but it didn't feel the same. I could be myself with Annie and never be judged." I could still hear her bubbly laugh and see the impish light in her eyes as we ran after her frisbee in her back garden, she was so full of life and adorable.

Cindy's hand found mine, held it and tightened in support. "You miss her." She observed, her amber eyes shining with sadness, and her expressive face full of compassion.

Life would be truly different if Annie was still here. But I would have been unaware of the dangers stalking me and been caught flat footed when Sinister would strike.

"Terribly so." I admitted, linking together our fingers.

"Wherever she is, she may be looking out for you. Don't be sad. She would want you to live your life and be happy, right?" Cindy reasoned. And you know what? She was right; Annie wouldn't have liked to see me like this because of her.

In fact she would kick my ass and bring me outside to play by dragging me by my hair. I told Cindy a sanitized version of my own thoughts. "She would tell me to stop moping and have fun."

The asian girl giggled."That girl, I like her. She sounds like fun."

"She was a bundle of joy." In a violent way.

We kept silent for a time until my eyes fell on Cindy's heart shaped face, her lucious pouty lips and beautiful amber eyes. Without my input, Cindy covered my lips with her own and we gave in to our lust until the lights dimmed and the movie started.

I sulked as she stopped kissing me and cursed the movie's timing. But nuking the theaters wasn't the solution, so I would have to be patient. Closing my eyes I leaned in my seat in defeat and sulking silence.

Cindy laughed at me and waved her hand at her body. "Don't worry Jeanie, we will do it again."

I turned my eyes to her, she was being playful, but through my empathy she felt, flattered that I found her so attractive and wanted to kiss her so much that we could lose time simply doing it. It was at this moment that I felt that our relationship would certainly bear fruits and go farther than induced lust given by teenage hormones.

*One day I would get my hand on this tight body.* I bit my lips as I took what she said as a promise.

But I didn't need to sound so eager! I needed to control myself. I breathed in and out, while the aliens arrived on Earth on the big screen.

I lowered my voice. "Sorry I just… just can't stop thinking about you."

Cindy looked pleased, smiled and leaned to say, "You are in my thoughts too, all the time." And nuzzled my neck, leaving a kiss that electrified me.

This girl was going to kill me! And break my inhibitions...

So, we spent half the time watching the movie, flirting, eating; though the popcorn bucket was almost empty by the time Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum exploded the mothership. I'm surprised those aliens didn't know what an I.F.F. was, or else the humans would have never won, there was no scans for differing lifeforms in their ship either? When I'm going into space I will not have such a problem…

"THAT WAS AWESOME!" Cindy stood and jumped up excitedly, as the two pilots who blew up the mothership showed up while smoking cigars in the desert and everyone amongst the minor characters in the movie ran toward them.

Someone in front of us turned and looked disapprovingly at my girlfriend. "Shhh!"

Cindy put a hand before her mouth. "Sorry!" She said sheepishly.

Cindy made me smile again. She was so adorable when she reacted this way. We stayed till the after credits, and went to the toilets of the cinema to freshen up; standing guard for each other when we did our business. You never know with the big city; bad things could happen to you anywhere.

It was 18:04 PM when we exited the Regal cinema, heading to look for coffee at the Burro Cafe on 72nd avenue. I wanted to get to know Cindy better before taking her home. I parked my car before the establishment but I saw that it was currently full through the glass showing the interior. I clicked my tongue in annoyance, hating to have to wait in line.

This was one of the nearest cafes near my home,but also the most frequented. I still searched for Starbucks but I didn't see any of those.

"Do you want takeaway coffee?" I would have prefered to go in and have a booth to speak with Cindy, but it seemed that it wouldn't be today.

She thought for a brief instant about it before nodding. "Yes, something sugary please."

I hummed yes. "Kay, stay in the car." I let my hand run down Cindy's arm.

With a husky tone, the asian girl said, "Waiting for you."

"Good girl." I took my bag with me and exited the car, my eyes briefly leaving her.

It was at this moment that I felt a strange feeling of animosity targeting me. I didn't dismiss this feeling. Someone was looking at me from a distance and was at the edge of my mental detection field. I didn't like that.

I got back into the car, put on my seatbelt, starting the engine. This pronounced feeling of dread became even stronger but I didn't know why.

Cindy looked confused. "Huh, Jean weren't you-"

"Change of plan we need to get you home now." I didn't even look as my TK automatically helped buckle safely my girlfriend's seatbelt.

Cindy didn't understand what just happened, she didn't strap herself in. I felt her confusion at my sudden change of behavior.

"What? Why?" Cindy panicked.

"I can't explain right now-" I felt a vehicle speeding on the road behind us. It was clear the driver was intent on crashing into my car.

Instantly there was a force-field around my Camaro and the black van impacted it.

**CRASH**!

Even though I protected us, the hasty force-field couldn't save us from the force of the impact that jangled us on the sidewalk. Cindy screamed, but I cocooned us safely from the windows shattering. For just a moment everything stilled, as I swiftly reinforced myself with psionic energy. As my hearing cleared I heard the noise of footsteps coming toward us.

"Quick check if they are still alive!" I heard a masculine voice.

**Look for the redhead **Another one, feminine this time, vocalised telepathically.

Someone began to hammer on my door and then it suddenly opened. A guy obscured by a sky mask and black clothes tried to take me out of the car but I ejected him with a TK push, using all my force. It was like watching a man being turned to splatter by being slammed by a semi-truck.

I checked on my passenger, noting she wasn't wounded! Great. But I have to ask, "Cindy are you ok?"

Cindy groaned in pain then looked all around her. "Jean what's happening?!" Her eyes bulged out of her eyes.

I didn't have time to deal with an irate girlfriend."Don't have time to speak, but they are after me, I want you to run." I reinforced this idea by wrenching open the car with my mind.

Cindy's eyes widened even more. "H-how did you do that?"

I shook my head. "I will tell you if we survive this. Now go!"

Cindy looked at me for a while, her amber eyes searching in mine. Then she listened and quickly exited the car. Just in case I dedicated a part of my will to follow her to keep a bead on her. I was pissed, so much that I let psionic energy cloak my entire body and exited the car. There were already bystanders watching everything unfold.

"Come out girl!" One of my assaillant shouted.

They didn't attack Cindy, so it's me who they really wanted.

**Yes, come out little pet.** The same feminine voice called out.

I slowly exited the vehicle, and patted myself, shards of security glass were all over me. Cracking my neck, my gaze focused on the six armed assailants. One in particular attracted my gaze. It was a woman whose body seemed to glow intermittently as if there were two people at the same place. The men pointed their rifles at me and one of them ordered, "Come quietly girl, the client wants you unarmed."

"You **broke **my car." I was angry.

I tried to sedate them to render them all unconscious, but to my dismay they stayed upright. Interesting; someone was shielding them, the woman?

**I see, you are just like he had said, a telepath. **The woman smirked at me.

When she snapped her fingers, the men around her neared me. **I guess you are going to resist... then we will have to damage you a little bit. Gentlemen?** The annoying woman's voice grated on me.

One of them walked closer and then opened fire on me.

**# # #**

**(Cindy Moon)**

"Oh my god, Oh my god! They are going to kill her!"

Cindy couldn't believe that she just abandoned Jean like this, but her girlfriend had asked and Cindy herself was scared. But she didn't go too far, and after feeling like a coward she came back as she was worried for Jean. She came upon the scene of this group of people trying to catch her girlfriend.

**Ratatatata**.

But at the last moment a red glowing wall surrounded the redhead's body and the bullets either deflected or smashed against the force-field. The bystanders all fled while screaming, some were even caught by weapon fire and fell.

_Zing. Zip. Zip. Zing._

The men in the ski masks stopped firing, all frantically searching for where she disappeared to. She reappeared, hitting the shooter with a flying back kick in the face. There was a sinister crunch and the man dropped like a sack of brick, then Jean rolled and took the assault rifle the man had wielded in hand. The other men panicked and fired on her, but a glowing force-field appeared again, the ricochet of the deflected bullets impacted the right tires of her foes' black van.

Then Jean fired at them in turn with the rifle she had picked up, scoring a hit in the lower body of one of the shooters.

To Cindy it was as if she was suddenly thrust into an action movie and her girlfriend was the star. Why would she fight? What did those people want with Jean? All those questions passed through her head. The redhead got back up and just… blurred to the third guy and hit him with a series of left and right jabs where you could clearly hear bones being broken. One, two and he was down.

The feminine attacker lunged to Jean but she found herself being thrown in the black van's door, glued to it by some invisible force.

*What the hell?!* Cindy hid behind a lamppost as more impossible events occured before her.

**Ratatatata**.

The two men on the left fired at Jean with panic. She waved her arms and the weapons were wrenched from their arms and at the same time she blurred toward them again, and jumped to elbow the man on the right in the neck and with another sickening crack he fell. Jean didn't stop here as she performed a wheel kick. The last man fell on his back, and Jean moved to straddle him, and began to pummel his head repeatedly.

Cindy ran toward Jean to stop her, and when she almost reached her Jean held her turned and held her hand in the air. The asian girl felt herself being lifted from the ground spreadeagled. When Jean looked at her finally, she saw the eyes of someone used to dish out the kind of punishment she just saw.

"Cindy, I told you to run." Jean's voice was cold.

Not deterred at all, she glared."D-did y-you think I would just lea-ve you?"

Though she did still feel afraid and became a bit traumatized by this experience.

Jean's gaze gradually became softer and her voice warmer. "Huh, it's true you are that kind of brave person."

Cindy didn't know Jean could be sure of such a thing, they barely opened to each other.

Jean put Cindy down and then abruptly the black haired girl hugged her. The redhead didn't know what to feel. "C'mon Cindy, I have this woman to… _interrogate_."

"Ahem, ok."

Cindy followed Jean as she strode up to where the woman writhed and struggled. A white glowing humanoid form extracted from the body of the woman and leaped toward the black haired Cindy who stood there paralyzed. But just before the weird glowing being reached her, Jean caught it with a hand wreathed in red energy. Cindy stepped back, her girlfriend had some sort of aura around her, the white glowing person struggled from her grip.

"I think I know you." Jean tilted her head.

**Unhand me!**

Cindy stepped back when she felt a headache, her nose bled a little bit. When a red shield surrounded her it suddenly stopped to ache, Jean briefly looked at Cindy who nodded to her knowing that her girlfriend looked out for her even in that situation.

Jean's eyes glowed green, and the entity slightly recoiled. "I don't think so. Hmm, you seem to not be human at all, a psionic construct? Where did I hear about you before… Oh! Malice?"

The being stopped clawing at Jean's arm, shocked.

"So, still a slave of Sinister?" The redhead asked.

Cindy knew that Jean was a total badass before, but this took the cake. She knows she should be afraid, running somewhere away from her, but took root beside her girlfriend. . Jean looked at her again, smiling with a reassurance that warmed her heart.**I AM NO SLAVE!** The being keened.

Jean laughed at it. "Potato, Potahto. It doesn't matter, I will take from you what I want."

The red energy around Jean snaked toward the glowing being until it was completely enveloped by it. It struggled, it screamed, it begged.

"I see, so this was a probing strike. You thought that you could just attack me and jump body to retreat and try again? Sorry, but I will send you to Hell now." Jean mumbled, but Cindy understood everything.

For the first time, the black haired girl saw undiluted rage in Jean's expression. Cindy doesn't know how to describe what happened just then, but the red energy turned yellow and orange and a keening cry rang in the air as the white being dissolved little by little until it became nothing.

"Phew, and we're done."

"Jean why did this happen?" Cindy asked. Jean flinched at her voice.

"Cindy…" Gone was the super kickass redhead, and there was the normal Jean that she knew and liked.

It was really strange to Cindy, to witness such a dichotomy. She wasn't deterred by what she saw. Jean was the first woman she had ever felt this strong about, and she wouldn't let things such as fear make her step back from this wonderful girl. Her mother's voice was telling her to get away, but she liked Jean better than her mother anyway.

Cindy ambled to the redhead, caught her arm, her amber eyes filling with wonder as she stared at her. "You'll tell me, right?"

For once, Jean didn't chicken out or give excuses. That's what she would have done to someone she wasn't sure about, but the moment she felt Cindy's feelings everything changed. "I have superpowers."

"Hum… I noticed?" Cindy couldn't still believe it, but she saw her girlfriend defend herself as if she was Wonder Woman in real life. Alongside the lust she felt, she asked herself what else was there out there?

Jean frowned, and waved at all the people on the ground. "And there are bad people after me, as you can see."

The bystanders had all fled, even the cafe where they had been had closed their door. It was a typical human reaction when danger was around.

Cindy shook her head, giving Jean a lopsided smile. "Doesn't matter."

"It's dangerous." Jean stepped toward Cindy.

"I could get killed at any moment, the world isn't safe." Cindy stepped in turn.

"You are so stubborn." Jean growled.

The two girls were now nose to nose and lost themselves into each other's eyes.

"Good, you like me this way." Cindy nodded, as she tiptoed on her feet, the young woman placed her arms around Jean's neck and kissed her as if her life depended on it.

They were lost in a kiss that robbed them of their senses of time and awareness of their surroundings. Jean didn't even feel when a familiar man walked up to them and interrupted their moment.

_Cough_.

Jean and Cindy turned to the person daring to mess up their sweet time. Cindy was about to say something nasty when Jean stopped her and hugged her to herself and greeted the black suited person, and said with an innocent smile, "Hi Phil."

**# # #**

**(Raven Darkholm)**

She was perched on a powerline, her vision having captured every moment of this fight. Raven found this young mutant powerful and completely merciless. She was a shoe-in for the Brotherhood! Another one for the cause. This redhead, and her leader needed to meet- maybe, just maybe, hope remained for the junior team of the brotherhood.

The mutants she had gathered at Bayville so far weren't up to the task to give trouble to Xavier's children. She looked on as the black suited men of SHIELD began to clean up and load the girls into a van, taking them to an unknown location.

Raven followed, needing to know who that girl was. She spread her black wings and flew after the racing vehicle.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 8**

**Grey Penthouse****  
****Haven Pavilion building****  
****20:00 PM**

The welcome home wasn't any good. Mom lunged at me, enveloping me in a tight hug which robbed me of breath and dad followed suit. We were in the living room, and Cindy was forced to return to her home with firm instructions on keeping her trap shut after signing some NDA; didn't they need her parents' permission to do that?

Phil was still in the room with us and proceeded to take my version of the events. I recounted to him what had occured, and that the psionic being who attacked me worked under the man who wanted to take me. He seemed worried, but at the same time disappointed by my actions. "So let me get this straight, they attacked you and you choose to fight and show your powers in public?" He leaned forward as he was taking notes with some kind of pen.

"It was that or dying." I answered with exhaustion, pushing myself further against the sofa. Phil stopped writing and looked into my eyes, a compassionate expression etched on his face. "I can certainly understand that, Jean."

It made me think of Sinister, and what this probing strike of his had confirmed. Nathaniel was aware that I was a powerful mutant but now he did not know by how much. He must have an idea. Fortunately, I didn't go like the Jean in "_X-men The Last Stand_" in the middle of the Queens, disintegrating everything around me. I think the reason for that was because Cindy was in the area.

I scowled, a red aura surrounding me, making my hair rise into the air. "He is getting bolder now, which is a sign of his impatience."

Phil not flinching at the display of power was a testament to the trust he held for me. "Don't worry, we will tighten security." He assured, trying to soothe me. But I knew Marvel, and it always found a way to fuck us up when we thought we were safe. Safety in the Marvel Universe is an illusion. You could be killed by any two bit villain or Galactus could come tomorrow to dine on the planet.

I smiled patronizingly at Phil. "I am not trusting that the means you have in your bag of tricks will be entirely _enough_. I will need to up my own training and gather resources."

I avoided saying how I planned to gather them, there was a big building far away from mine towering in the sky and across it was a massive sign which read 'Oscorp' on it. I smiled predatorily; Norman Osborn was a snake in whichever reality he was. What he did to Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy in Earth 616 won't stand. He was simply a monster and his son would mould into one soon enough too-

It was then that Mom interrupted my train of thought leaning toward the murderous kind.

"Jean? What are you talking about? Moving was entirely for your protection." Mom questioned, her brows furrowed.

I shrugged. "Mom, I like Phil and Peggy... but I don't think they can compete right now. So I will still work on my own means of staying safe while you guys guard my back, okay? That man after me, he will not stop. You'll see."

After this, Phil began to run me through what would happen now; about my car, Cindy and the protective detail SHIELD had prepared for me. I decided to humor them, as they thought they couldn't leave me unsupervised. As I was about to go to my bedroom, I felt the presence of a human mind I was unfamiliar with outside on the balcony. It was a bird, a raven to be accurate.

**# # #**

**(Raven Darkholm)**

Raven observed as the parents of the girl fussed over her. Strange, they seemed to be aware of her powers yet treated her the same. Sometimes Raven was shown that all flatscans* weren't hateful and bigots by that kind of scene. What worried her though was that SHIELD was aware of her and her powers. Normally when they found one of her people, the protocol was to either lock them up or hand them to Charles Xavier to _educate_.

When the meeting broke up, Raven reviewed what she heard. It seemed some man was after the girl and she doubted SHIELD's protection. It was interesting, maybe the brotherhood could offer her protection if she joined their ranks. Raven had witnessed how utterly merciless the girl was when she fought and how she dealt with her foes. All of a sudden the girl looked at her from the living room, as if she saw what really-

**Hello, Mystique.** A female voice rang in her head.

Raven attempted to fly away in panic. She was dumbfounded, shocked she had been detected this easily; however, it seemed that it was too late as she was unable to move. She felt a pressure weigh on her mind and recognized the signs of being kept in place by a powerful telepath.

Raven looked in fear at the young redhead. **How do you know me? Did you-**

The teenage girl sat on one of the armchairs of the blood red sofa, a smug look plastered across her face as she gazed at Raven whose mood darkened upon seeing the girl's expression. It pissed her off in a way that was foreign to her. The little redhead acted as if she was an open book.

*She was a telepath, so she certainly could.* A little voice rang in Raven's head.

A white plastic cup full of root beer flew in the girl's hand. **Oh, that's because I've read Charles Xavier's mind. He wasn't as careful as he should have been.** she said smoothly.

Raven struggled as she fought to keep her out of her mind. **You...**

Raven felt a headache coming on as her bird form shook violently; she almost returned to human form but it was stopped by the girl.

She smiled at Raven who couldn't believe that she was being done in by a kid. **You shouldn't resist; I am not going to kill you, I just want to talk, Miss Darkholm. If I wanted you dead I would have crushed your body into a ball of flesh and punted you into orbit.**

This gave Raven a pause as she imagined the horrific image summoned by the girl's evil words.

The red-headed devil smiled. **Good. So are you here on business or simple curiosity?**

To Raven the girl acted as though she knew her in depth and was familiar with her methods and way of thinking. Then, the shapeshifter remembered that the girl had just claimed to have read Xavier's mind; and she seemed to have none of his ethics. Raven decided to cooperate and wait for the girl to lower her guard to escape at a moment's notice. The smile on the redhead's face became brighter as she read Raven's mind.

**Business, My… _leader_ is aware of your existence.** Raven revealed as she tried to not think about everything Magneto had asked of her concerning the girl.

It was completely useless, though. **Ah, I see. Mister Lhensherr is interested. He wants to do his usual recruiting pitch?**

Anger rose in Raven and bled through her mind's voice. **There's nothing I can say that you don't already know, girl?**

Her smile melted into a thin one, then she drank the root beer from the plastic cup she clutched, her eyes steady on Raven's as she did so. For a moment the shapeshifter felt she was being burned alive but just as she started the sensation was gone. Raven knew she hadn't imagined the feeling when she saw the flame in the girl's eyes. **Call me Jean, Miss Darkholm.** Jean said in a steely voice.

Raven felt that she could move the top of her body, she understood that the girl allowed it. She bobbed her head in acquiescence to defuse the situation. The shapeshifter had always known that her words would provoke some trouble in her life one day and it seemed that day was Jean stared at her, Raven was sure that she was rummaging through her memories due to feeling the same sensation she felt when Charles was reading her mind that time he was less skilled. However, Jean seemed to have a different psychic signature and was more delicate in her perusing, something that was strange to Raven. **You know, when I learned of your existence, I was really happy to know that people like me existed. Then I've learned of your story from Charles, it's not pretty at all.**

Was that pity she saw in Jean's eyes? No, it was compassion. Raven's anger increased; this wisp of a girl was holding her prisoner and viewing her memories like she was leafing through a cheap hardcover. **Why do you care?**

Releasing the cup and using her will to put it on the low table, Jean advanced toward the bay window, staring straight at Raven. **Because I can, you shouldn't be reviled because of what you look like.**

Those were eyes that had seen tragedy, eyes of someone who knew what it was like to lose. Raven stood on the balcony for a minute staring at the girl… no, the woman before her.

**Can it, girl. Charles already tried to reform me.** Without heat into her words, Raven huffed; averting her eyes by turning her bird head.

Jean smiled anew, and this one was more genuine that the other ones Raven saw from her. She reminded her of Xavier, before he became that inept caricature of grandfatherly uselessness. Raven hoped that she would never suffer like he did; the girl moved with purpose and seemed ambitious from the words she had caught her saying earlier to that SHIELD agent.

Scowling slightly, Jean answered Raven's train of thought. **I am not Xavier. He is more hypocritical and sly than he lets on. I don't believe in his _coexistance's _spiel. He would let the world burn before doing anything worthwhile and do what needs to be done.**

Raven smiled inwardly. Was fate giving her a boon? The girl had not been polluted by the lofty ideals of the bald monk?

**I see… we are more alike than I thought.** She answered almost too quickly.

**Just a tiny bit.** Jean laughed out loud. **When is Mr. Lhensherr going to arrive?** She said more seriously.

Raven cocked her bird's head. **Two days, tops. The meeting will be in Central Park, it's the usual place for recruitment.**

Jean pondered over that for a while, her arms folded as she seemed to look beyond Raven and in the city. Oscorp's sign shone as the sun declined. Finally, her eyes focused on Raven. **I will be there, Miss Darkholm. It was a pleasure meeting you.** She finished, releasing her hold on Raven's cerebral motor function.

Raven didn't leave yet, instead continuing to interact with Jean, **I will come get you at nine this saturday. Don't be late**

And she flew away as the girl waved at her, a smile caressing her lips. Raven put a good distance between her and Jean; she would never admit it, but Jean had scared her. That much power in the hands of a teenage girl should be forbidden. But in essence she had a good feeling about her.

**# # #**

Watching Raven fly away, my smile morphed into a smirk. I now had a link to the shapeshifter's mind. I possessed the ability to locate her no matter her whereabouts, or if it was needed to speak to her. This meeting was fortuitous; it would be able to allow me to advance my plans apace.

"Just as planned, I am finally on the map for the players. But I am not a pawn, I am a queen." I spoke, ascending up the stairs, and entering my bedroom by opening the white, oak door with my end. I was now in my -temporary- domain.

The room was more spacious than my bedroom at home in Annandale, the size of the living room actually. Sixty square meters at least. The walls were painted white, and the bay window gave view on the other side of the Haven building, I could see other skyscrapers. The window wasn't glass at least, it was basically transparent metal. I didn't know how they did it, but at least I was safe from any snipers now.

My head turned toward the queen sized bed with red and black bedding, I had thrown my school bag on it in haste earlier when I arrived.

"I need to think about this, but first! Bath, a long one…"

And this is how I spent the night, showering, dining with my fussy parents and doing my homework. Until the skills and ability I took from Malice congealed in my mind and the information on how to do something similar to her own power was in my grasp. This was scary, really scary. I could go use my astral form to control people, they wouldn't even know about it.

The ethical dilemma of trying to use or not to use this ability made it difficult for me; I was racking up more pros than cons. But goddamnit, this was Marvel! This universe was dangerous and wearing kid gloves would only lead to my death. Which was what happened to Charles Xavier or Captain America in Civil War when they refused to compromise on their morals in a certain situation which caused them to be killed by snipers.

Astral projection basically gave me the power to gather intelligence covertly. I was strong enough of a psionic to use my telekinetic abilities while in that state, so why not the possession too? This thought evoked a smile from me. Glancing at the time on my wristwatch, I saw it was 11:02 PM. SHIELD watched my every movement and mom woke up at night to see if I was in bed.

I had no choice but to use my Astral Projection to see if I could continue my night life. After wishing goodnight to mom and dad, I went to sleep in my usual t-shirt and shorts. Closing my eyes, I waited for my body to be half asleep and pushed my spirit outside of my body.

When I reopened them, I floated in the air, looking down at my own body. A smile left me. *Damn I am hot.*

Since my spirit was tethered to my body, I still felt connected to it. Looking up, I instantly noticed the call of the astral plane, but after the incident with the Phoenix weeks ago, I ignored it, instead directing my focus on staying on the material plane. The Phoenix was still there on my personal island, waiting; but waiting for what? For me to fuck up and take over, that's what.

*Not today.* I told myself.

I was training, pushing myself like never before. Three days out of seven were spent training with Elektra and Matt.. Meditating to find my balance, pushing the range of my powers. I wasn't limited to one kilometer with my telepathy anymore. In fact, I could feel my friends right now, brushing the edge of their thoughts. They were at different ends of the Queens. However, it wasn't enough; I wouldn't be satisfied until I could reach everyone on the planet and beyond.

I left the room through the window by phasing through it, and looked under my feet. The street under was lit by the lampposts and lights of the cars passing by. Flying around over my building, I was still deliberating about using possession on someone. *I can do it! Being coddled and wrapped in bubble wrap has actually become rather inconvenient and slowed down my progress.*

With that rationalization I decided to stop pussy footing around the issue and go through with it. Rising in the sky, I went east of Oscorp and continued to fly aimlessly for ten more minutes.I didn't want to do anything supernatural close to my home in the Queens. Going somewhere else would be much more beneficial as SHIELD wouldn't know about it.

As I descended overland after passing over the Harlem river, I began my search for _trouble_. I didn't want to possess a man- someone anatomically close to my own would be preferable. It was easy, I found the less reputable part of town on my first try. It was behind a theater in a clear state of disrepair that I found a man suddenly starting to beat up a young black woman clothed with a red strappy top, a black jacket, really short shorts and knee high heeled boots.

Her hair was straight with a slight wave, and dyed ash blonde. She held the look of a grungy version of Beyonce. Fortunately, none of them could see me and I watched what this was about.

"Bih! Ya better have me money!" The man kicked her on the ground.

The girl attempted to shield her face with her arms. "Please stop Kamal! I-"

He backhanded her again. She fainted and lay still, and I saw that her pimp was going to continue stepping on her. I watched a slimy smile come to him. He oozed of vileness; the same greasy feeling I felt from a certain gangster who had tried to kill Martha Wayne. Time stopped and I made my choice, stepping into the woman's body.

Possessing someone was akin to wearing a new coat, albeit an ill fitting one. The woman I possessed was called Nicole, aged twenty two, and was a high school dropout. She fell in with bad guys and her parents kicked her out. She was forced into becoming a street worker and this man Kamal had forced her into his _service_.

Opening my eyes, I saw he was ready to stomp Nicole's face, so with swiftness, I caught his foot. I positioned her thighs around his leg and reversed our position, pulling him to the ground. I straddled him as I punched his left temple with all the strength I could muster from this body.

**Crunch**.

Kamal stopped moving and blood flowed from his mouth, nose and ears. I felt his mind slowly die, but as I quickly linked to him I took the information that I wanted from his mind before he faded completely.

*Excellent, now I know who he is working for. What am I gonna do about it?* I smiled as possibilities for mayhem and meeting out justice for this poor Nicole were possible. I could have my cake and eat it too.

I could possess people and use my powers through them, now I needed to know for how long I could hold it. Kamal's boss would not like my inspection visit. Rising from the dead pimp's body, I kicked him. As I looked at him I decided to vaporize him, not wanting his body to be found lying there and muddy any evidence left over; though I doubted anyone would miss that asshole. She learned her lesson with SHIELD, thank you very much.

*Let's have some fun!*

**# # # **

**Grey Penthouse ****  
****The following day****  
****October 26th 1996****  
****06:00 AM**

A sun beam illuminating my room passing through the opened shutters of the bay window woke me up. Yawning, I stretched like a cat and slowly got out of bed in a more sluggish manner than I would expect my body to be. That evoked the realization that the possession stunt from last night had unforeseen consequences.

Sitting back on my bed, I began to meditate; after five minutes of emptying my mind and breathing in and out, I finally discovered the cause of my unease in my own skin. My spirit and body were out of sync!

*Huh, it's like seeing double.* My spirit wasn't sufficiently anchored; I could see bits of my spirit self leaking out of my body.

I quickly fixed the problem by centering myself even more and thinking about happy things, when I reopened my eyes there was no more double vision like effect. I stood up and my body followed the impulse of my brains. Nodding, I gave myself a rewarding pat on the back. "I am totally not going to abuse astral projection like this again." I muttered to myself.

_Knock. Knock._ "Jean, wake up!"

The shrill voice of my mother woke me up further, any trace of somnolence gone, and I shouted back, "I am up!"

Mom opened the door, shooting me a smile which I returned, and walked up to hug her. She was clad in a pink robe which covered her red nightgown. Mom was a beautiful woman, I saw why my parents still had an active sex life and tried to give me more siblings.

I engulfed her in my embrace. As she hugged me back, she kissed my right cheek and said as if in passing, "I woke you up early, but we are not sending you to school yet. Maybe next monday."

"Huh, what?" As she looked right back at me straight in the eyes, I understood that it wasn't an offer- she was telling me what was going to happen.

Mom's expression became serious, and she placed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Phil called and said sending you back outside is still a bit dangerous."

Straightaway I understood that it was normal procedure, now they had tangible evidence that someone wanted to take me away. SHIELD was about to tighten the security around me. *Shit.*

A future full of mooks following me wasn't interesting and there were things needed to be done by me which were sometimes illegal and having Fury breathing down my neck was suboptimal. I needed to keep a lid on this. I looked at mom and began to say with a whine, "But mom, I want to see Cindy!"

*Damn right, I want to hang out with Cindy, Jessica and the rest of the gang freely too.* Looking stubbornly at my mom, I wanted to tell her that I didn't need protection at all. I was almost in total control of my powers right now, fifty percent of my psionic energy was easy to manipulate thanks to all the meditation I practiced.

Mom sighed and put a hand on my shoulder. "Jean. Don't be difficult, you were almost kidnapped."

"Fine." I crossed my arms and looked on mulishly at her.

Mom began to pat my head, combing my hair with her fingers, and the emotions of understanding, fear for me and unconditional love that began to radiate from her were beginning to slowly chip away at my own stubbornness. My mother loves me and she would do anything to keep me safe, even if it hurt me a little.

She smiled at me, her eyes glistening slightly. "I know that you can defend yourself, but one day even your powers will not be enough if they come at you with sufficient numbers and a different range of ability to take you down."

*I can't say that she isn't right here... But wait a minute?! Since when did mom know about that kind of thing?*

I looked at her with wide eyes. "Mom?"

Her cheeks flushed, and she averted her eyes,straightening her robe. "I've been reading a bit of comic books lately, to have a frame of reference about powered people. There are a lot of different kinds of powers, a lot of people can have counter abilities of someone the reader thinks is invincible. Even in normal life there's always someone stronger, Jean. That's why I want you to listen to us, okay? I don't want to lose you, baby girl." She explained, placing her hand on my cheek with affection.

"Okay." I huffed.

Mom spread a wick of hair out of my face and her face gained a conspiratorial expression. "As a concession, maybe Cindy could come here after school, what do you think?"

Perking up at that, I jumped up and down in happiness and glomped mom. "Mom you are the best!"

She patted my back before stepping away from me, a smile directed at me. "Yes, I know. Now go take your shower and have breakfast. Elektra is coming to see us."

Those words prompted me to flinch, my quivering just a bit. "S-sensei is? Q-quick, I must prepare!"

At super speed, I ran to the bathroom. I stopped before the door, opened it and was already before the mirror making my toothbrush and toothpaste float and putting on the paste on the tool. After that I took my time bathing, toweling and in clothing myself; forty minutes later I was ready to go have breakfast!

I arrived in the living room via levitation, which my mum scolded me about, and was served a big plate which held bacon, eggs and sausage with some orange juice. I devoured it all while dad switched on the TV to the local channel for the early morning news.

"Jean eat slower, the food won't leave your plate." Dad commented as he lowered his newspaper.

I didn't bother stopping; it would acknowledge the fact that he thinks he can tell me to stop. Elektra was coming, and I was readying for an impromptu training session.

"Stranger things have happened, dad." I answered as I scarfed down my eggs.

I smiled at him, and a weak chuckle left him as she shook his head. "Just… go slowly."

Swallowing the last sausage and drinking my glass of orange juice, I finally finished while staring at him tauntingly. "Fine. I'm done anyway."

Dad laughed at me and I glared at him; he could be insensitive sometimes. I ate fast lately and still paid attention to my manners, but dad thought I was eating like a pig, I read it from his mind. *How rude.*

Deciding to ignore him, I focused on the news. I took the remote and raised the volume, the voice of the anchor even and concise.

_"Earlier last night, a tragedy struck in Harlem as the recently opened nightclub The Orchid was burned down with people still inside. The firemen reported that it was an act of maleficence…"_

Despite me, a smile left me as I faced the TV screen. That was all me and I really, really enjoyed tearing apart the Orchid and giving a bit of justice back to Nicole. The woman's life was really sad; she didn't deserve to be thrown out of her home, or to have to sell her body to be able to simply eat, and to be beaten up by monsters like Kamal has been. After killing him, I went to his boss in the Orchid and killed all his goons who tried to stop me from reaching him.

Of course, after scanning the entire club, I made everyone who wasn't involved leave the place, keeping Thomas Calvin aka Kukri -his street name- and proceeded to kill or disable his men. I met him in his office, he had a sort of panic room and was about to leave when I got to him. I didn't go easy on the afro american man, raiding his mind, prying open his secrets and stealing his bank information and his insight on the local criminal organization.

I took all the money he was laundering in his nightclub in bags- a total of twenty millions dollars in black duffel bags stored in a concrete vault with a steel door. Absconded with them and short circuited the electrical grid so the entire nightclub was lit ablaze with Kukri and his men still inside. I then set aside sixty thousands dollars aside for Nicole and wrote a note telling her to get out of Manhattan, that I killed Kamal and Thomas Calvin and that she was free.

Then, with the help of my telekinesis, I buried the eleven duffel bags five meter into the earth in the Harlem River Park, next to a playground and deposited Nicole at the nearest bus station. It took all of three hours to test my possession skill, and I was really satisfied with it.

"Geia (Hello), Jean. You seem very chipper this morning." A familiar and sultry voice commented in my ear.

I jumped out of my seat, startled. "Aaaah!"

Turning, I saw Elektra, dressed in a top with a revealing neckline covered by a blue cardigan, dark blue jeans and blue tasteful heeled sandals. Her outfit wasn't the only thing that looked fabulous; her long hair was styled in a sleek, chic cut that provided body and movement. She was ahead of her time in the aesthetic hairstyle. I just asked myself how she made her hair into such a multi-layered mix that framed her face perfectly.

I never noticed before, but she had the bluest eyes ever. I scowled at her after my heart settled and shouted, "Damn it, sensei! How did you get past my mental detection?!"

She smiled at me enigmatically, posed with her fist on her hips and said, "You'll figure it in our next lesson that we will have… right now."

I stepped back. "Fuck."

"Language!" She bopped me on the head, a laugh bubbling out of her.

I always ended up the butt of the joke with Elektra; but I liked, no, I loved her as though I would love an elder sister. And it only took six weeks for her to insinuate herself into my life, my heart and gaining my respect. Elektra took my hand, pulling me into the little sports room in the penthouse, which was big enough for being considered a dojo; but hey, it came with the luxurious penthouse, SHIELD had footed the bill for it.

As Elektra sat in the middle of the room on the mats, I followed suit. "What are we going to learn today?"

She was already assuming a lotus position. "A different brand of meditation, Jean. Something that in the long term will help you. Qi Gong"

She placed her hand on mine, grasping it tightly.

I tilted my head, staying mute for a moment, trying to recall what Qi Gong was. "Okay, sounds cool. I am almost able to control my power completely. You brought me this far sensei."

"And I intend to bring you above and beyond what you call control, Jean." Elektra grinned at me.

It wasn't a comforting grin; it was a grin that promised pain and suffering, but that in the long term I would thank her for what I was about to get into. The feeling of fear was foreign to me but in this moment, I had an urge to bolt. Elektra had kept a hold of my hand all the while. Maybe my body language indicated my thoughts. And we began in earnest.

Qi Gong was completely different from Tai-chi which I was already an expert in, thanks to Elektra bringing the martial skill and spirituality that I copied from agent Shane to an entire new level. Qi Gong was more esoteric, its practice typically involved moving meditation, coordinating slow-flowing movement, deep rhythmic breathing, and a calm meditative state of mind. People practiced _qigong_ throughout China and worldwide for exercise, relaxation, preventive medicine and self-healing.

However, Elektra was teaching me these methods more with the goal of teaching me advanced meditation, self-cultivation, and for martial arts.

We began with Heaven and Earth Qigong, a method designed to clear out stagnant energy, heal body imbalances, progressively release stuck tissues and negative emotions, and sharpen focus and mental processing in general.

From the start of this first session, I could feel results. I quickly understood Elektra was trying to teach me how to use my Chi. With only one continuous motion, we repeated move after move for two hours.

By the time we had finished, I was exhausted. I laid strewn across the blue mat, panting heavily. When I looked up at the wooden ceiling, Elektra sensei appeared in my line of sight, smiling with satisfaction. "You learn fast, but we will be doing this every two days, and you'll have to do self practice alone sometimes."

It was annoying to see her standing there, not even sweating in the slightest, while I was completely drenched and feeling icky.

I rolled my eyes and said, "Understood."

Standing up, my body ached, and I went to shower again. After this, we discussed the attempted kidnapping and Elektra decided to monitor me at night, and she promised mom that she would be unobtrusive. It was eleven when Elektra left after having a long discussion with my mother, she had even gifted us some delicious greek pastries; something called Loukoumades, some kind of deep fried doughnut balls and Halva that were cakes flavoured with cinnamon and cloves and is made with raisins and nuts. It was absolutely delicious.

The house gift gave me a big idea! I asked mom for permission to go to the supermarket, so I could purchase enough for ten people to make some food that I planned to share with some friends. The lockdown will be lifted this weekend, so why not make some preparation for my meeting with Magneto?

**# # #**

**October 26th 1996****  
****08:25 AM**

Saturday was the day I was meeting Magneto. My bodyguards and SHIELD eased up slightly, allowing me to leave the house. Or it was better to say that I crossed a line and influenced them into letting me go for a while, to Fury and Peggy I had to promise more tests with my powers and doing some cheap interrogations for them; yeah, they had to pay me for each interrogation I practiced now.

For this outing I had chosen to wear a scarlet red drawstring tight-fitting hip skirt elastic waist long sports sweater with knee long boots. I felt sexy, powerful and snarky when I stared at myself in the mirror, making various poses and pouting. There was no metal on me at all.

For this important meeting, I had prepared a picnic which consisted of club sandwiches, homemade juice with apple pie in an overly large picnic basket that cost me forty dollars.

I had just finished my Qi Gong, which I was practicing as I waited for transport, when I felt a familiar mind come into range. For security purposes I had only extended it to two kilometers. Mystique was on time.

She arrived in a black blue BMW 850 CSi convertible, a new model which I'd been eyeing up since I recently came into money last Wednesday. My Camaro was totalled, full of bullet holes and the engine could only be written off, so I was thinking about making a change, anyway.

Raven was in the form of a caucasian blonde with grey eyes and a sinful body. Her face indicated that she was a few years older than me.

She beamed at me, waving. "Hi, Jean."

With wide eyes, I walked up to her car and gushed, "Raven! It's cool to meet you, damn, I love your car!"

I spoke the truth, but this was all an act. I didn't want to tip up SHIELD of where I was heading. They would surely know who Magneto is. I couldn't not meet him. So far this universe had shown me that my metaknowledge was useless sometimes, only letting me know what was in context. Magneto was often an evil bastard or a good man in different realities. I wanted to know which one was which in this one.

She slapped the car horn and then grinned, showing me teeth that wouldn't be out of place in an ad on TV. "I do too!"

After placing the picnic basket on the backseat, I was ready to climb in her car when someone interrupted. "Jean could I have some of your time please?"

Turning, I saw Phil Coulson. I had known that he was here but I didn't anticipate that he would want to speak to me before I left with Raven. "Uncle Phil?"

"Good morning." He greeted awkwardly.

Smiling at him, I answered his greeting. "Morning."

"Um, this is Raven. A friend I recently made through someone at school." I said to break the silence and waved to the seemingly pretty blonde.

"Hi, Mr. Phil!" Raven smiled enthusiastically and waved.

Phil stared at her for a long moment, flushed, nodded at her, then pulled me aside. "You shouldn't be going out, it's dangerous."

I felt his desire to keep me safe; the previous attack had left him rattled, and there was also the fact that he felt that he needed to save me from myself and from killing people. I felt everything through my empathy and it made me hug him, which he returned, wrapping his arms around me. Phil was used to my spontaneous displays of affection because of my empathic ability being always active, there was no way of misunderstanding him.

I was more than a job to Phil since I really grew on him. However, at the end of the day, he was still an agent of SHIELD, and I needed to keep them from discovering my plans and resources before it was too late for them to do anything about it.

It hurt me to lie to him.

"I know, believe me uncle Phil, I know. But I cannot live in fear anymore, this… this world is unfair. I've been hunted since my powers awakened and I had to sully my hands with blood instead of living like a normal girl should. Nevertheless, I will be damned if I allow that guy from making me stop enjoying life."

I felt how half of him believed me. I also felt the bug he put in my purse when we hugged but I decided to leave it there.

Phil straightened his suit and stared in my eyes, a quirky smile on his face, just like in the show. "I see, Then you will not mind if we bring more tagalongs?"

It didn't bode well with me at all, but I had more tricks in my sleeves; I returned his smile, flicking my hair behind my back, saying, "Do what you think is best, Phil."

Then I made my exit, jumping into the BMW convertible at super speed. Raven waved at Phil and stepped on the pedal, leaving the SHIELD agent behind us.

Raven wanted to make conversation and extract more information from me. "So, you are…"

I pressed my finger against her lips, telling her not to speak about M business aloud, only do it in her mind because there was a bug in my purse placed by Phil. She understood and began to speak about fashion and hairstyle while driving from Fresh Meadows to Central Park. All the while she gave me information via thought projection. Raven impressed me with how good she was, better than Jessica.

The ride wasn't long; twenty six minutes while we spoke of things that interested us.

I liked Raven's style, and mentally told myself to keep in contact with her after this, Magneto or no Magneto. I didn't rummage through her mind, promising myself I wouldn't do that. Then the conversation ended when we spoke about education. I revealed to her that I planned to open my own tech company one day and she encouraged me.

We finally arrived at Central Park, and she parked the car in one of the parking lots on 97th street Transverse; Raven activated the roof closing mechanism of her BMW. She genuinely loved this car, I felt. Picnic basket in hand, I psyched myself up, leaving my purse in the car to avoid being spied on by SHIELD and walked with Raven to the rendez-vous point.

**# # #**

**(Erik M. Lehnsherr)**

**Central Park****  
****Nutter's Battery****  
****09:02 AM**

Magneto had lived for an awfully long time. As memories unfolded rapidly in his mind, he thought about how fate brought him to walk on this path and his resolve steeled; he had lived through the holocaust in World War II, he was experimented on by Nathaniel Essex and geneticist Josef Mengele operating at Auschwitz.

The monsters who performed those atrocities on him made him a Sonderkommando at Auschwitz for almost two years to avoid his _selection_. Cleaning out the furnaces of the crematoria, he discovered the bodies of his friends who had been picked, and turned into monsters by the experiments of Essex and Mengele.

All the while, he watched thousands of men, women, and children walk to their deaths. It was him who pulled their bodies from the gas chambers. Dug out their teeth so the Germans could take their gold. Carried them to the ovens, where he learned how to combine a child's body with an old man's to make them burn better.

He saw his fellow workers buried alive under an avalanche of rotting corpses, he saw thousands of bodies burning in giant outdoor pits. His eyes had seen at least a quarter of a million dead beings… and he was unable to save even one of them. Erik learned first-hand how brutally human beings could treat those they considered different.

Everything had changed when he was reunited with Magda, a Romani girl, the daughter of the cleaner of the school he had attended. He had fallen in love with Magda at first sight. He saved Magda from the gas chambers and then from execution; as the Sonderkommando revolted, the two of them escaped together. For several years, Erik and Magda lived in a Carpathian mountain village, and eventually they became married. They had a daughter, Anya.

He remembered the flames, the smoke and the people of the city Vinnitsa preventing him from saving Anya in their inn room on the upper floors. It was lit up by the mob, the KGB and the soldiers hunting them. When she perished, Erik's mutant powers killed everyone in Vinnitsa in revenge. It was at this point Magda fled. She was terrified of her husband's powers and overwhelmed by the tragedy.

At this point, unknown to him she was pregnant with twins, after looking for her for months, he never found Magda, not for a long time.

As he thought about his first and late precious daughter, Erik sat on the stone bench facing the lake. He took off the pendant that rested on his neck and opened it, staring at the two pictures within it. They were of Magda and his little Anya. The memories that unraveled again in his mind made him almost tear up; the pain was dulled but still there.

Magneto or the man better known as Erik Lehnsherr was a man who has seen, done, and endured the unforgettable and unforgivable. At some point in his life, he had become tired of living, the weight of those memories weighing him down. He had to find another goal, to look for himself. Eventually Erik traveled to Haifa, Israel, under the guise "Erik Magnus."

Magnus volunteered as an orderly at a psychiatric hospital for Holocaust victims. That was where Erik met and became friends with Charles Xavier. Magnus and Xavier frequently debated the subject of mutants' coexistence with the rest of humanity, though neither revealed to the other that they were mutants.

But yet again, destiny forced him on the path of war as him and Charles joined forces, revealing their powers to each other, to rescue their friend, Gabrielle Haller from Baron von Strucker and his Hydra agents. After this, Erik seized Nazi gold and left for parts unknown, realizing his views and Xavier's were incompatible; as multiple skirmishes between their organizations, the Brotherhood and the X-men had proven over the next decades.

Charles was unable to do what should be done. Not to mention, his hope for coexistence has caused many personal tragedies amongst his own people. Erik closed his pendant and placed it inside his armor again. Just in time to see Raven and the prospective recruit become visible in the air and slowly touch ground.

"You see, Raven, not a hair out of place."

Mystique sighed dramatically, crossing her arms as a huff left her. "I owe you twenty dollars and some fashion advice."

The red headed young woman held her hand to Mystique who regained her base form. "Pay up."

Mystique gave her a look. "After the meeting, Jean."

"Fine. Okay, is this everyone?" The redhead grumbled, eying Magneto with a big smile, her head tilted and looked behind him in the woods.

Just like this Magneto understood that she was more than a mere teenager he could gang press into his service. Her telepathy was further along than he thought if she could go through the psionic dampener his scientist on payroll had come up with. Jean Grey was at least as strong as Charles Xavier and it didn't bode well if she was an omega level mutant like him.

Jean Grey strode toward him, moving like a predator. She was aware of her beauty, and used it as a weapon. From his report from Mystique, he assumed she was a less ethically inclined analog to his friend, Charles. He had believed she was weak, and that he would be able to sway her easily to his side with the promise of all the incentives that a youth would want.

He was wrong. The woman in front of him was young, but dangerous, and she didn't need telepathy to read him like a book. Her eyes were too old, as if she knew what suffering and pain was like, a strange dichotomy for so young a girl.

Her smile became vulpine and she laughed, "Hello M. Lehnsherr, it's so nice to meet you; but it would be even nicer if all your junior league members hidden behind you could join us?"

Magneto nodded solemnly, raising his left hand, and making a sign.

"Very well. I am pleased to finally meet you, Miss Grey. I have heard good things about you."

Four people exited the woods, all dressed in civilian clothings, except Pyro who was in an armored bodysuit with two canisters on his back linked to flamethrowers. Magneto carefully watched the girl's reaction, her eyes sliding over each of the boys her own age and dismissing them. When they finally settled on Gambit, her face became neutral, but her eyes hardened.

Magneto recognized that those were the eyes of a killer. When her gaze returned to his, she was all smiles again, shyly flicking a wick of hair from her face. "From Mystique no doubt. I like her. She's a good person deep down."

This meeting was slowly taking a different turn. Magneto nodded, and went to sit at her side and added, "She had nothing but good things to say about you."

"Really?" She asked, the picnic basket she arrived with floating slowly toward her and landing at her side on the bench. Mystique stood, observing them with a blank expression. She wore her white and almost barely there costume, the girl's eyes occasionally came back on her from time to time.

"More importantly that you don't believe in the coexistence spiel of Charles' dream." Magneto smiled thinly, wanting to know her opinion on what should be done to save their people; if she had refused to join Charles it meant that she had her own opinion on the matter.

Loud spurts of laughter bursted out of her, and the four members of the Brotherhood stared at her as though she was insane. Finally, after a few beats, she calmed down and sat on the stone bench at Magneto's side.

Jean Grey wiped a tear from her cheek. "Wew, that was a good laugh, I really needed that."

"Can you be serious for an instant?" Magneto said darkly.

Everyone around them froze, which was a feat he was used to. They all feared him, and feared his power. However, Jean Grey didn't look fazed, even grinning slightly as if she wasn't concerned by him at all. Magneto noticed how much Pietro, his son, kept looking at the young woman. He stopped when he noticed Magneto observing him with disapproval.

Jean, having noticed, leaned against the back of the stone bench. "Sorry Mr. Lehnsherr… but Professor Charles Xavier is not my favorite person, and his goals are... laughable."

Magneto was left with a bitter taste in his mouth as the redhead seemed to spit on his friend's dreams. He may not agree with Charles, but he respected him. It was clear that Jean didn't at all, but the next sentence made him understand why.

Jean Grey spoke with anger in her voice, opening her hand. "When we met, he tried to read my mind without permission, and I shut him out." Then she closed it, forming a fist. Magneto heard her knuckles cracking.

A faint red aura began to momentarily appear around the girl. Some of the boys stepped away from her, feeling the oppressive aura and the killing instincts she emitted through it.

*Oh Charles, what have you done?* The girl, if he could believe what she just said, had batted him away in his own specialty, the mind.

Pyro gazed at her in anger, not pleased by being made afraid by a slip of a girl. Gambit stared at the young woman with trepidation, and he didn't understand why. Pietro… his son stared at her hungrily, and there was room for a problem later if he was too infatuated with Jean Grey.

"Oh." Magneto looked on at Jean whose mood shifted from anger to disappointment.

Jean returned his gaze, before shifting it to Mystique and Gambit. "In answer, I subtly ransacked his mind to see what he is all about. And from what I've seen, I don't want anything to do with his vision. Charles Xavier is well meaning, however he is blind and this famous saying of Edmund Burke describes him to a T."

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Mystique interrupted, harrumphing. "Jean is right."

"Maybe she is, but the man has been wounded and lost most of his loved ones and students. I can understand why he became what he is."

Jean shot a thumbs up to Mystique who nodded at her. "Yeah well, Mr. Lhensherr he is your friend, but he is not _mine_. He should just do what he can and teach kids how to use their powers not fill their head with kumbaya songs about equality and coexistence. Like you, I don't believe the world is all sunshine and rainbows." The venom in her words was palpable and he found himself almost agreeing with her.

The boys, and even Gambit who had experienced both emotional and physical torture nodded in acquiescent understanding. This rhetoric was strange, coming from a young woman living with her loving parents and led an idyllic life full of friendship and mundane events.

But everything wasn't as it seemed and with the shadows of SHIELD in her life, he was made wary. He decided to question her so they could engage in a debate and he would gain insight into her vision, as he realized that this young woman wasn't made to follow but to lead. "Oh, and what would you do in his place, Miss Grey?"

Magneto believed that he had cornered her, when she simply deflected his attempt at taking back control of the conversation by smiling sagely and patted the basket at her side. "I have a plan, but before I tell you all about it, I brought snacks!"

Jean placed a green tarp on the ground, then sat, displaying three Tupperware boxes full of club sandwiches and a glass bottle full of fruity orange juice. She also had water bottles, plastic cups and tissues. Magneto had frozen, barely understanding what was happening.

They were being treated to food. It was as if this girl had the hobby of wanting to destabilize his thought process. Magneto couldn't believe his eyes when it was Mystique who was the first to take the young woman on her offer, taking a big sized club sandwich before sitting at Jean's side. The other boys, except Gambit, had looked between him and the food, *They at least have a sense of priority!* Magneto thought.

Not wanting to show disrespect to the girl and her kind offer, he raised his chin and sat before the little hellion. She took a sandwich wrapped in plastic film and handed it to him, also serving him some juice with a smile. The boys followed suit, but Gambit stubbornly refused to accept Jean's largess and took out his staff and began to do some katas.

Magneto found it strange that this young man would squander an opportunity to work a charm on this delightfully good looking redhead. There was a sliver of panic in his movements as he felt the weight of the young woman's gaze. With everyone finally watered and fed, it was finally time to get to business.

With a plastic cup filled with orange juice, the young woman put herself in a sit cross legged pose that wouldn't be strange on the cover of a photoshoot. Toad and his son couldn't keep their eyes away from her; all her movements were made to maximize her femininity and grace. Pyro was getting wise of her wiles and Magneto decided he would reward him later.

After she finished her drink, Jean Grey crushed her cup and smiled as she looked at Magneto. "Like I said earlier, I have a plan."

Magneto believed her, but was her plan good enough? At first he didn't care what it was, thinking he'd forcefully take Miss Grey and induct her in the brotherhood, but now he had an inkling that it would be dangerous to do so. When he looked at her, he saw someone able to call him out on his goals and behavior. At one point, he feared she read his mind despite the protection of his helmet.

Then he laughed internally, dismissing the thought; even Apocalypse couldn't have done it the last time. Magneto sat, wiped his mouth with a tissue and said, "Is it the same as Charles? Or mine?"

"Huhu, no." Jean Grey smiled thinly,before all traces of amusement left her face and body language.

She stared at him wistfully, then in resignation. "At first when I heard about you, I wanted to join you Mr. Lhensherr. Contrary to what Xavier represents, you are a smart guy and you know how the real world works."

Magneto frowned. "Why didn't you?"

"That's because I love my family, my friends and I want them with me in the future. If I joined you, I would have to choose between your cause and them. I am sure that you understand my position Mr. Lhensherr…"

Magneto flinched, as indeed this was his Modus Operandi for young recruits; severing them from the influence of their parents and friends and slowly starting the… brainwashing. Mastermind was also key into editing their memories to make them compliant and loyal to the cause.

"I do, family is... everything." Magneto admitted, his eyes on his son and the memories of his elder twin sister, his second born who wasn't present with them made his heart ache about what he has done to her. Magda would curse him for what he'd done but he had sought help for her, mutant and magical ones. However, Charles failed in delivering a solution that would allow Wanda control of her powers, and this pitiful practitioner died when his daughter lost control of her powers yet again.

She had stared at him in utter disbelief when he had institutionalized her and they were taking her away. She had pleaded and cried to stay with him and Pietro had begged in desperation for him to not do it. He understood at this moment that he had broken her heart and betrayed her and he doubted that she would forgive him in her lifetime. But Wanda was too powerful and unstable to be let free in the world.

"And there's also the fact that you believe humans are below us, that they are akin to insects." The girl chimed in as if this fact was a deal breaker to her.

Magneto's ire rose. He could understand her first reason for not wanting to join but his opinion on the humans he would never budge on! "Of course they are, we are to them what god is, the world belongs to us now!"

The redhead chuckled darkly, shurgging. "See, you truly believe that. I don't."

To Magneto the girl became a walking contradiction, couldn't she see what was coming? Another war, more death as his people's number rose, more internment camps and monstrous experimentation. Could it be that… "I thought you said that you didn't believe in Charles' vision."

She replied instantly. "I don't, humans are flawed. They only change and gather for a common goal when they are threatened."

Magneto nodded, calming down slightly. "At least we agree on this. Mutants are a threat to humanity. They would seek to herd us, enslave us then destroy us like cattle."

All around him, his people nodded, agreeing with him and surprisingly… so did Jean Grey. Her eyes blazed with anger, and then the polarizing feeling emanating from her passed. "You are right, they would. Mankind fears what it doesn't understand. Those in the know about our existence are afraid of our gifts, because we are different. But you know what? They are right to fear us! We are the future! We are the ones that will inherit the Earth!"

Magneto, Mystique, Gambit and the three other boys felt as they were seeing double. Pietro even wiped his eyes because this was word for word what his father had told them in a rally. Jean's speech was good; it didn't feel hollow nor were her words laced with sarcasm. Magneto realized that he may be protected from her telepathy but the others around him weren't.

How could he have forgotten? She was not as ethical or good at heart as Charles. Then Magneto realized Jean Grey was possibly the most dangerous mutant he encountered since En Sabah Nur -aka Apocalypse- or Bennet du Paris. She was young, charismatic and -until proven the contrary- powerful enough to rival his old friend Charles Xavier.

"However," She trailed her eyes over the group. "To deserve to have the world we must be worthy of it. Terrorism, blackmail, kidnapping? Mr. Lhensherr, you have a beautiful dream, but does all the blood you've spilled and the lies you've sown in its name make you worthy to be the face of… you know what? Mutant? I don't like this word! It dehumanizes us, because yeah we are still humans, just really advanced ones. I will look for a more PR name for our race."

Magneto rose from his position on the port, hovering from the ground, and bellowed, "You don't think that I could lead our people?!"

*The gall of this young whelp!* Magneto fumed, staring down at Jean raised from the ground herself, adjusting the tight outfit she wore and placing a hand on his red gauntlet, making her voice soft and calming. "Calm down, Mr. Lhensherr. I am not your enemy, at least I wish you will never be. It's not that I am afraid of you or anything of course."

He believed her; she had come into this meeting knowing what type of man he was and didn't seek to avoid it. A few seconds after she spoke, her words rang deeply within him. Was he worthy? Was he now a monster because of everything done to him? He wanted to rage and deny and that he simply wanted to avoid another holocaust, that he...

"Bullshit!" A voice rose from behind him, Magneto turned and his eyes settled on Pyro. His resident aussie teen interrupted his musings.

Jean Grey turned to Pyro, hovered toward him and landed. "Oh?"

"How dare you spit on our dream? Our goal!" Pyro shouted in a foolish manner.

Toad took his friend's arm, trying to pull him away from the dangerous girl. "Woah, Pyroboy. Calm down."

Pyro pushed Toad away who ended up on the ground. "Back off Toad! This Sheila needs to be taught a lesson!"

*Foolish boy.* Magneto thought. Pyro was one of his most loyal underlings. However he was also -pardon the pun- hotheaded and stubborn.

"Do we really have to do this?" The redhead huffed, looking annoyed.

"Absolutely bitch! Come and fight me, and we will see if you are so bloody hot!"

"But I assure you, I am." A red aura engulfed the young woman, and her hair wildly raised into the air. "Do you worst, Pyroboy."

Clenching his hands, Pyro punched toward her, a cone of fire flying towards her, and he kept pouring the heat on the girl. Magneto chose not to intervene. Mystique was about to but he placed himself between her and the battling teenagers. Pietro almost defied him.

"Hahahahahahaha!" Pyro cackled,, mindlessly throwing flame at Jean Grey who stood unmoving and her form on fire.

Mystique looked at him, seeming upset at the scene before her. "Magneto, is she…?"

He opened his mouth to reply but closed it when Jean Grey's red and yellow flame morphed to a golden and orange one. There was the faint outline of a bird that the flames silhouetted. Until Pyro's own flames connected to the bird of fire and the table were turned. The orange fire devoured Pyro's own controlled flame and leaped on his gauntlets, beginning to devour them.

"W-what the hell?!" The young man stuttered, trying his hardest to control them but failing as they continued to burn him, refusing to fall under his sway. Pyro's costume and gas tank began to burn at a high pace and his form was the one wreathed in fire in turn. All of a sudden the gas tank on his back was separated from him and floated in the air and became surrounded by the strange orange fire and a cage of force.

The gas tank exploded, it was of course contained, and the only thing reaching them was the temperature. This was an excellent show of control and power that impressed Magneto. The orange bird of fire gradually disappeared, leaving in its place the untouched form of Jean Grey who strolled with grace to the now naked Pyro who sat there relieved that he wasn't burned or still on fire.

He laid down in pain, struggling to breathe, when Jean kicked him in the solar plexus. She placed her booted foot on his face, pressing into it, saying, "I hope this kind of incident won't happen again, Pyroboy?"

She waited for him to answer her. Pyro seemed to understand that he was vastly outclassed and nodded frenetically. Jean then turned to Magneto and with her piercing gaze that seemed to peer into his soul began to speak, "A boy is always willing to prove himself, to others and himself, that he qualifies as a man." She kicked Pyro again, making him squeak.

Mystique smiled at her, that girl was dangerous and she had come to like the girl too much.

"I think we can get past this incident and still talk, can't we? You still didn't tell me what you want to do, young woman." Magneto intoned, hoping that the interaction with Pyro didn't sour the girl against him.

She sighed, kicking Pyro once more in the stomach. "I think we can, but there's something I wanted to give you. Before that, it's a note, you'll consult it when I leave, deal?"

She handed him the folded white paper. He examined her expression. She didn't think much of his underlings he seemed and preferred to not make a big issue of Pyro's assault. He smiled."It's an agreeable condition."

And then they began to discourse amiably. Jean Grey wasn't like Xavier, oh no, she was more dangerous; she was more like him but more moderate. She wanted to be the middle path, another choice for their brother and sisters. Jean was willing to cheat, steal and kill to realize her goals, and anyone foolish enough to stand in her way would suffer immensely.

Her plan was to specialize in research and technology and reveal their people with safeguards put together to protect them beforehand. She was willing to go to war, but in the meanwhile she would try to educate the flatscans and then appeal to their greed by giving them what they wanted- health and riches. If it failed, she wasn't adverse to founding her own country to gather all their people.

*This plan is pragmatic and hinges on the reaction of the world. It gladdens me that she's not like Charles, though.*

Magneto decided that Jean Grey wasn't a good fit for the Brotherhood; she would push him away from leadership and take his organization if he allowed her entry. It was best if the Brotherhood and her future organization- or group- were his allies.

"I understand, Miss. Grey. I am willing to not force the issue with your recruitment." Magneto said, his tone magnanimous and commanding.

She laughed softly, and enveloped him in a hug. The action surprised Magneto, making him stand rigidly. She looked at him and patted his back. "If you ever need a favor you know where to find me, Mr. Lhensherr."

"I-I will gladly extend a helping hand to a fellow sister." Magneto said awkwardly.

She stepped away from him."Thank you for your time." When she turned, she looked at Toad the poor malodorant boy and the speedster who couldn't stop imagining her naked. "Pietro, Toad. I hope I will see you guys next time and maybe we can hang out?"

"Hum…" Toad tried to say something, anything, but just caved under her gaze. Her fight with Pyro had cemented how dangerous she was in his mind.

Pietro smiled, running a hand through his white hair. "Sure."

Mystique's body shifted and adopted the form she had come with before the meeting. The green tarp floated in the air, folding by glowing red constructs that resembled feminine hands. The plastic cups were gathered and placed into the nearest trash cans with telekinesis, and Jean placed the leftover food within the basket. Said basket floated toward her and then Mystique accompanied Jean Grey away from this part of the park.

Magneto looked at her departing form with anxiousness. There was a powerful omega level mutant who thought he was right but misguided. She should be joining him, but it wasn't to be; like a certain Chinese proverb say, *two tigers can't live in the same mountain.*

But maybe, just maybe she will succeed; he will stay on his path and keep his eyes on young Miss Grey, and maybe help her the best he could. He was sure that his people needed a third choice- not all were the same morally. Magneto recognized that he was a radical voice in the defense of mutantkind against mankind. Magneto shifted his thoughts to the term 'mutant' and noted Jean Grey was right. Their people needed a new name; they were not monsters like the term implied. Gambit and the boys watched her and Mystique disappear with the same cloaking bubble. Gambit had been strangely silent today; normally he was a chatterbox. Magneto opened his palm, unfolding the white paper.

**"Gambit works for Nathaniel Essex."**

Magneto could scarcely believe what he was reading, but if it was true? Then… oh, he would kill the little thief agonizingly slowly. He wasn't given a chance to fully digest the information before something occurred that would completely alter the way he would interact with Jean Grey in the future. "Argh! Aaaaaah!" Gambit held onto his chest, screaming in pain as blood flowed out from his mouth and nose. He fell to his knees, and started to… dissolve?

It happened slowly. First his fingers and his hand disappeared in a cloud of dust dissipating into the air, second were his arms and the process sped up and left only his head but he still screamed until there was nothing left of him. Magneto looked on, horrified by what he saw and the boys, Pietro and Toad had emptied their stomach at what they witnessed.

Shaking his head, Magneto understood that the girl had something to do with what happened; he would never know if what she informed him about the thief was true. When Mystique would return, he'd ask her to maintain a sharp eye on the girl and ask what her issue with Nathaniel Essex (Mr. Sinister) was. Magneto didn't panic when the white paper slip disappeared into the same cloud of particulate.

# # #

**Back with Jean...**

I left the meeting with Magneto, harbouring a hindsight of the kind of man he was. He was closer to his alter ego from the main timeline in 616. I could deduce that this timeline wasn't far off from the main one but with key differences mixing what I knew from the cartoons, comics and the cinematic universe.

After seeing Pyro, Pietro and Toad, I knew that they resembled their counterparts from the show X-men Evolution. Wanda wasn't with them and my other self told me that from Pietro's memories that she was without doubt institutionalized like in the cartoon. This Wanda was really dangerous and held deep hatred for Magneto when she escaped and got swindled by Raven and joined the brotherhood lite in Bayville.

The memories my other self gave me showed that at times she appeared unhinged.

Nevertheless, I would help her and bring her to my side, but first I needed to find someone powerful, willing, and able to see past the chaos magic that her powers clearly were. There wasn't anyone else on my list beside Agatha Harkness, Doctor Strange or The Ancient One. All of them were scary and… let's not think about what could happen to me if I made them mad.

I really hoped that Strange was the sorcerer supreme, the MCU version… that woman was dangerous.

When we finally landed in the parking lot, I made everyone ignore us so they didn't notice when I lifted my cloaking field. Raven went to unlock her car, I gathered my purse and then I told her with an impish smile, "Pay up."

She rolled her eyes, retrieved her own purse from the glove compartment and grabbed twenty dollars from it. "Take my advice from my memory."

Raven opened herself to me, not completely, but slightly so.

I looked at her with trepidation. She wasn't a bad woman. She was simply desperate, and her life had been shit for a long time. "Are you sure?" I asked; this was a big step in our relationship. I threatened to kill her when we first met, and I felt icky about it.

She smiled at me, leaning against her car and leveling me with an intense look. "Trust, I decided to extend a bit of mine to you. If you really want to save our people, we will inevitably work together."

I placed my hand atop Raven's, slowly extracting the knowledge she possessed about fashion. It was extensive, she had knowledge and skills related to body language to enhance beauty and manipulating men and women that made mine look like a high schooler's while she had multiple PhD on it; Raven was also a makeup and hairdressing artist with professional levels of skills.

Despite me and my intentions, some of her memories bled into the experience and skills I was copying from her. "Hum okay. I am done and hum... I have to apologize, some of your memories bled through in the process."

Raven waved dismissively at me, massaging her temple because of the slight migraine the knowledge replication due to my telepathy caused. I passed one of the remaining water bottles to her which she gulped down. While doing so, I spoke to her absently. "You know, when I create my own powered group, you could join me?"

I didn't expect her to accept, but I wanted her to know that the door was open if she ever needed it.

Raven shrugged, climbed into her BMW and closed the car door. "I will think about it, but actions are better than words."

That was fair, and I understood her position. I slapped my hand on the car's roof. "I will show you then, okay I'm going to stay in central park for a while, goodbye Raven and say hi to Irene and Anne-Marie for me."

Rogue still lived with Raven and Irene aka Destiny, a precognitive and the shapeshifter's lover. She was under the protection of the Brotherhood because her powers were greatly sought after. Irene Adler was an old woman now, more than one hundred years old, she had lived this long because Raven shared her blood with her to stall her aging.

Another thing to put on the list- Destiny was important and I didn't want her to die. Precogs are awesome.

Raven didn't panic, but her voice held a sliver of apprehension. "I'm sure Irene already knows about you."

I smiled at her when she flinched and put a finger on her right earlobe. "This is Mystique." Raven said aloud.

*Wow, the brotherhood has micro-communicators!* I gushed.

See? Right there, this is the kind of tech I wanted. The engineer in me that I keep repressing after copying the knowledge of every specialized tech and support agent in SHIELD screamed that she wanted to put apart the communications device and come up with my own. *Calm down, me.*

Raven looked at me in disbelief to the info being reported to her, then started her car before continuing her speech. "Yes, she's with me, fine. I will rendezvous with the team at the rally point."

The emotions of wariness she emitted towards me were my cue to leave. "Bye." I waved at her before disappearing with my cloaking field and floating away.

Staring at her car driving away in the sky, a smile appeared on my face. So my killing of Gambit had kicked the hornet nest. The bastard worked for my nemesis and was responsible for the kidnapping attempt and there was more! He actually hired a team of mutant mercenaries to do the same, he didn't have specifics on their powers, so I couldn't know what they were capable of, but I knew each of their faces, it should be enough.

I didn't regret atomizing the bastard, he and his goons had almost killed my Cindy. I don't care if Charles would have reformed him; he was a horrible person anyway.

I left 97th street Transverse to go gallivanting in the park and tour it. My first stop was at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. which was an awesome place to visit and well suited for a perfect date. I mentally noted I'd bring Cindy there. I observed the great collection of art and artifacts from all eras and cultures. I couldn't possibly appreciate it all in one day so I put off touring more with Cindy later.

While I zipped all over the park, I noticed that I had a tail- SHIELD field agents without a doubt. I kept feeling on my mental detection field, the flavor of their minds and interests. There were also some squid amongst them. I swiftly avoided them by flying over the lake in the middle of Central Park and landed in a place called Sheep Meadow, a scenic lounging lawn.

The sun began its decline in the sky, and I glanced at my wristwatch seeing it was 03:00pm. *It's time to go face the music. I hope Phil won't be too cross with me.*

Walking on the perfectly cut lawn, I looked around me; my pursuers were farther than I thought at the edge of my mental detection field, eight kilometers away. I walked slowly, waiting for them to catch up when a strange feeling brought me to a carousel nearby. A family was there, enjoying each other's company. The man was in his late twenty, muscular and 1.90 meter with black hair and blue eyes; his partner was a tall and curvy blonde woman with an easy smile.

Their kids, a black haired boy and blonde haired little girl climbed down from the fake horses and unicorns, laughing with glee. And it was at this moment Marvel chose to open it's maw when dozens of men of different ethnicity that were in the shade of the copse of trees at the carousel's side took their weapons and were about to fire at each other.

They began firing their weapons, striking the mother before I shielded all of them in a force-field. Dropping my basket and purse, I jumped in the middle of the melee, covered by my dermal armor, but I still avoided the bullets and snatched their guns, force choking them. There were a lot of wounded and at least ten dead.

I kept the surviving ones in the air, letting them struggle until they passed out or let go of their bladder or guts. "Eww."

Feeling the woman fading, I released the men, running towards the shielded people. The kids were crying about their mom, while the father, teary-eyed, pleaded with the blonde woman to stay with him. "Maria, stay with me baby." The father desperately cried out, putting pressure on the thigh wound.

Maria placed a sluggish hand on her husband's. "I-I am sorry Frank, take care of Junior and Lisa."

"Mom, no!" The boy didn't know what to do and looked around, he was the first to see me.

"Mom!" The little girl sobbed, her dress stained red with blood, as she mimicked her dad.

I walked toward them and said gruffly, "Hey move, I need to save her life."

"What…?" The black haired man tried resisting but I used my telekinesis to push him away. Using my mind, I applied pressure on her thigh where the wound was located. The bullet had touched an artery. When I extracted the bullet, Maria let out a scream as the bullet floated in the air and fell on the ground. Then I saw inside of this part of her with my telekinesis. I could see the hole in her circulatory conduit and smoothed it out, sealing it at the molecular level.

The excess blood splashed onto the grass when I pushed it out, and I sealed the wound with micro-kinesis. I was getting good at this. Thanks to my stolen skills and experience as a Special Force Medic gleaned from one of the team members of SHIELD who posed as my neighbor, I saved Maria's life.

"Okay, I stabilized her. But she lost at least two liters of blood."

Frank pushed me away, glaring at me, then he inspected his wife and saw through the bullet in her blue jeans that her skin was closed. "You… how did you do that?!" Frank demanded.

"Frank stop, she… she saved my life!" Maria shouted as she patted at her thigh while her kids surrounded her and hugged her.

I smiled at them, my voice soft when I spoke. "You still should go to the hospital, in case of infection okay?"

Maria nodded. The children stared at me with their eyes glistening and snot coating their face. t Frank stood up and watched the downed men in the copse of trees, some dying or already dead. Walking up toward them, I followed him, afraid he might do something he might regret. He stopped at ten meters from them and looked between me and the men. I felt trepidation, respect and him squashing the fear he felt at my strange abilities.

A sudden cold determination filled him and he asked me an excellent question. "Who were those men who attacked us?"

I tilted my head and tried to read the mind of the dying. I came to the conclusion that, "They didn't attack you, they were fighting because of a deal that didn't come through. Let me see…" I made one of the mooks float toward me, he was awake and still had a weapon on him.

I took it, made it float and disassembled it before his eyes. The adults around me looked frightened, The kids were different, feeling wonder and awe simultaneously. Putting the guy to sleep, I perused through his thoughts and memories. "This one is a member of the Kitchen Irish. They were trying to come up with some kind of peace offering to some newcomer who had been bleeding them. The latinos on the ground are members of a , Mexican cartel that moved in town recently."

When I let go of the mobster, he tumbled to the lawn like a bag of frowned. "How do you know that, it's as if…"

"Oh, I am a telepath." I smiled at him.

Frank shook his head, attempting with all his might to not crumble. His view on the world was challenged with the way I showcased my telekinesis and how I had read those men's minds."Those guys, do you know more about them." Frank asked, and I felt the question wasn't innocent. In his mind, he was already concocting plans to obliterate each of those guys' organizations.

"Frank, do you truly want to?"

He guessed that I already read his mind and saw what he was planning. The fury he was radiating was stronger than any emotion of the sort that I ever felt.

"They almost killed Maria. They need to pay." He said, leaving no room for argument.

I shook my head. "But Maria is alive, and she will need you, your kids will need you. Please don't do this."

The stubborn man's wrath didn't abate at all."I need to do this." I glared at him, gritting my teeth. "Then do it after they are safe, Frank." I waved toward them.

Maria and the kids stared at us with various emotions flashing across their faces. Frank watched me for a long moment, and I felt his appreciation towards me for thinking of his family first. After a long moment of debating, he settled on following my advice. A sigh of relief left me at that. There was a feeling inside of me, my other self was actually getting loud in my head as she was trying to tell me something but I tuned her out as I walked back toward Frank's family.

Following me, Frank asked, "What's your name?"

"Jean. Jean Grey." I answered without turning to him.

I kneeled at Maria's side and put a hand on her leg, looking at my work again. She wasn't bleeding anymore, the artery sealed at the molecular level as if it had never been punctured at all. Now she needed an IV full of antibiotics.

As I mused, Frank continued to speak. "Thank you for saving Maria and the kids. I don't know what I would have done if my family had died. My name is Frank, Frank Castle."

I flinched, my head whipping in his direction. I was shocked by the implications of my actions; I saved the Punisher's family. "Well, hum… your welcome." I acknowledged, lamely.

Maria looked at me strangely.

"If there's anything I can do…" Frank was about to say when I felt a familiar mind coming at great speed toward us.

A SHIELD armored vehicle, followed by another five, surrounded the carousel, heavy weaponized strike teams in SHIELD uniform and body armor exiting them. Frank and I automatically raised our hands. I wasn't surprised to see a certain black man in a SHIELD uniform and a black leather coat, swishing in the air with style, exiting the lead vehicle.

He stared at me as though I was a terrible disappointment and that I needed to be on latrine duty for a year. It didn't make things better that I felt that he thought I was a plant for a certain red armored mutant that he discovered being in Central Park. *Shit.*

"Well, well. Red, you have been naughty." Nick Fury tsked, taking steps towards me, holding a special collar in his hand that I recognized.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 9**

**(Nathaniel Essex)**

**Somewhere in Africa…  
October 26th 1996  
01:25 PM**

"What do you mean, Gambit is dead?!" The wine glass in Sinister's right hand cracked, ruby red liquid seeping through the cracks.

The man displayed on the holo-screen was of North American Indian descent with long, black hair and grey eyes. He had a good build, being tall and muscular, and wore a long vest with a lot of different metallic plates. He looked haunted as though he had seen the devil himself. He clutched his modern sniper rifle tightly, looking around frantically as if he was expecting something to occur.

When his gaze settled on Sinister, he began to speak. "Gambit entered into contact with the target. The emotional and telepathic overlay that you provided him wasn't _powerful_ enough to keep her from reading his thoughts. Fortunately, it was efficient enough to not let us be detected from afar, or we might not be reporting to you sir."

Sinister leaned before the holographic window, his face taking on a thoughtful expression. He couldn't care less about Gambit's demise; he was a pawn, a replaceable asset that he could clone at his leisure thanks to the DNA he took from him a year ago when he had come to him after fleeing New Orleans.

The pale faced man rose from his seat and spoke, his black skin tight armor exposing the form of a muscular body. "I see, what did you uncover from her meeting with Magneto?"

"Well, we heard from the plastic drones and it's records that the target pretends to have read Charles Xavier's mind. She defeated one of Magneto's goons by using pyrokinesis and boy did she humiliate him… what is weird is that the old bucket head didn't forcefully induct her into his little club. But now I understand why he didn't; it all happened when she left, she killed Gambit from afar, he turned into dust when she disappeared with the sexy blue babe."

Sinister struggled to believe what he was hearing, his mouth agape, pointy canine visible. *Grey is powerful enough to break or bypass Xavier's mental shield, proficient enough in her telekinesis to create and manipulate fire.*

The unexpected surprise quickly morphed into interest. He understood that Jean Grey had more potential than he believed. If she was this versatile at her young age, what would she be capable of as time wore on? He wanted her under his sway; she could be useful for things other than breeding her with subject Summers!

The mad geneticist turned to his operative, an eager expression plastered on his face. "This changes... everything Mister Greycrow."

Sinister felt jubilant; maybe he would get his cake and eat it too. All he needed was to imprison the girl and brainwash her so she would become his perfect minion. *No, I am thinking too little; a team or an army of powerful psionics? I would surely be able to take out my Master, En Sabah Nur.*

John Greycrow spoke, snapping the crazed scientist out of his daydreaming. "How so, sir?"

Sinister calmed down, sitting back on his silver throne and said, "We have underestimated the girl, she's too powerful for the kind of assault that Mistress Malice tried with her. Only surprise and guile will work, I suppose."

*Yes, an ambush should be possible. With the power available amongst the Marauders it should be able to momentarily strip Grey's power from her, she should be easy picking. What was his name again? Scrambler? He is this mutant able to disrupt the functioning of powered individuals. Yes, and he needs some back up, people able to resist crushing and cutting forces. A teleporter will be the key to this operation.* Sinister typed rapidly, writing down his instructions and sending them to John Greycrow.

_Ting_. The American Indian took his tablet, skimmed over the instructions then nodded. The fear that took root in him slowly began to dissipate, being replaced by something akin to relief, completely visible in his body language.

Crossing his legs and raising his chin, Sinister smiled smugly at his operative. "I will send you upgraded psionic overlay devices and I want you to observe the girl and seize the moment to enact her capture."

"This will be difficult with all those SHIELD agents shadowing her." Greycrow's own smile peaked through, the prospect of a challenge seeming to please him.

Sinister waved his hands, dismissing the idea that SHIELD would be able to pose as a barrier. "Something tells me that she will chafe under their scrutiny and knowing Nick Fury, he will alienate her." Sinister's chuckle was... sinister. "I know the man, wait for an opportunity. Bring her to me, Mister Greycrow, and you will be rewarded immensely."

"Understood, sir. Scalphunter out." The holographic window disappeared.

Upon touching the cracked wine glass, it slowly returned to its original shape, the glass pristine as ever. Red wine floated out of the green bottle and poured into his crystal wine glass. The scientist sipped some of the ruby red liquid and said under his breath, "Soon, you'll be in my hands, girl."

Sinister laughed.

**# # #**

**(Nick Fury)**

**Central Park  
Sheep Meadow  
Carousel attraction  
03:15 PM**

Nick had been right. Jean Grey was a spook just like him. How foolish they had been to open SHIELD's doors to her. Peggy and Phil were fooled by the girl but now, all of this would stop! He had enough suspicions to bring her in and try proving that she had been Magneto's puppet this entire time. After all, it wasn't possibly a coincidence that Magneto, a wanted radicalized terrorist, and members of his little club were here and that today, of all days, was the day she chose to go to the park despite Coulson's protests and advice.

When it came to light that she had left her purse in the car that belonged to the young woman who drove her to the park, the hunt for Jean Grey was on. The bug remained still on the screen of the Intel van shadowing her. The girl disappeared for one hour before suddenly reappearing in the parking lot. Agents were dispatched to try to bring her in but she disappeared again.

When they found her, she was in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and his men followed her from afar, watching her as she admired everything she saw. They followed her out as she continued the trend to disappear and reappear in different locations, playing hide and seek until they pinned her location to the carousel attraction in Sheep Meadow where weapons fire was briefly exchanged.

All available units swiftly converged on the location and the target was surrounded, of course not alone. Nick exited the vehicle, power inhibitor collar in hand and arrived before Jean and the older man. "Well, well. Red you have been naughty."

Then he noticed the woman and children near the attraction, the downed men in different states- living, wounded or some having died. Fury waved at the nearest agent. "Call the EMTs, at least five vehicles."

The man standing to his right nodded, walking out towards the vehicle. Fury took steps towards the scene with the armed mooks strewn as if a bomb had gone off. He examined his surroundings, cursing, "Motherfucker, what happened here?"

The older black haired man at Jean's side glanced at her before shifting his gaze to Nick. It was evident that something was being said from their expressive eyes.

Jean opened her mouth, speaking. "Before I answer that, Nick, tell me what you are going to do with that." She lowered her arms, pointing a finger at the collar. "And can my new friends, Frank and his family leave? They didn't do anything, they were just caught in the crossfire between those people. Maria needs to go to the hospital."

Fury snorted loudly. "As if. I am bringing you all in." His words brokered no room for argument.

The agent in charge threw the inhibitor collar to another agent who caught it and then walked up to Jean. Some already seized Frank and his family.

Uncertain, the man looked at Fury who waved him to go through with it. He pushed on, until he faced the redhead who stepped back, a warning ringing loudly through her words, "You are not putting that on me."

Every agent surrounding Jean raised their weapons, and cocked them, ready to subdue her. Fury was sure that he could get away with it; they were all armed with custom weapons able to fire tranquilizer faster than Jean could blink, and the needles were made of adamantium, a metal able to bypass her psionic barrier.

"I am not leaving you a choice Red, you were seen cavorting with a known terrorist." Fury's tone was laced with menace.

Jean's eyes widened, but didn't rush to deny his words, a clear sign of her guilt. "I can explain-"

Smiling with triumph, Fury snapped his fingers. "Bring her in."

Four agents converged toward her and were about to put their hands on her. Jean's posture slackened for a second before she stood tall, eyes blazing red, her voice gaining a melodic echo, "I told you, you are **not putting ****that thing** **around my neck**."

Everything went pear shaped in an instant, and the weapons trained on Jean and the family turned to dust, but she didn't stop there. Every armor wearing agent found themselves in their undies. The redhead began to hover, a red aura surrounding her and flames of a golden orange color filled Jean's eyes. She was the epitome of intimidating. The collar held by the agent = short-circuited and he dropped it.

Jean floated toward Fury, raised a hand, wringing his beck and lifting him off the ground. She made him stare at her face-to-face. "**Do I make myself clear?**"

Fury tried to struggle, and clawed at her hand, unable to speak or nod. There was defiance in the face of such a powerful force, all for naught.. She scrunched her nose in disgust and dropped him with a thud. Fury landed on his ass while Jean landed on her feet. She turned to one of the agents she missed with her disintegrating area of effect, and clipped out,"Call Director Carter, now."

After such a display, no one refused her. Fury glanced at her, massaging his throat. *She's been sandbagging us all the while.*

"Yes, I have." He heard the mutant girl answer the thought running through his head.

His gaze found hers, and she stared him down until he lowered it. Chuckling, she turned to go to the family who seemed to have developed a healthy fear for her. Just as he saw her do with Peggy and Phil she extinguished their fear by reassuring the family of her good nature and that she didn't mean them any harm. He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the tension coiled in their bodies disappearing. The parents began to laugh as the children enveloped Jean in a hug.

Seeing her in action, Fury was sure of one thing: Jean Grey was dangerous. He was overcome with an urge to protect his men, his friends; he needed a way to protect himself from telepathic and empathic influence. As she patted the kids' head, her eyes met and held Fury's, a frustrated expression flitted across her face, at least she wasn't able to change his nature.

Half an hour later, another contingent of SHIELD troopers arrived. Phil Coulson arrived with them, taking charge of the situation. They bagged the bodies and Coulson directly asked Jean to erase the memories of the Irish and Mexican gangers, then arranged for the family that Jean was protecting to get into protective custody.

Phil rushed at Fury, an air of disappointment surrounding him as though he was being torn between his duty and his friendships. Which was exactly the case.

"Coulson." Fury greeted his colleague.

Phil removed his shades, looking his friend in the eye. "Nick."

Their body language was telling a lot to each other. In Phil's stance, Fury could see that his friend was torn, his expression showcasing the uncomfortable position he was thrown in. The super spy decided to try to convince him. "You know she's hiding shit from us. I found her cozying with Lhensherr's brood. We should bring her in."

The agents who were at their side and still reeling from Jean's attack all looked at him as if he was crazy. Sighing, Phil approached his friend, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Nick. How many lives did you risk today and still want to put in danger? You know… you could have asked her why, and she would have told you."

Fury batted away Phil's hand, walked closer to him, eyes glowering. His menacing tone resurfaced. "Don't take this tone with me, Coulson."

Phil chuckled ruefully. "Someone clearly needs to. You know Jean has been a boon to us."

Even Fury couldn't deny that Jean Grey had been an excellent asset; resolving certain problems on US soil had become easier because of her abilities to pry away dirty secrets, bases location, plans that some nascent organizations like AIM or some group of CEOs who didn't have the good of the citizens in mind. Justin Hammer of HAMMER industries was one of the last to have been put behind bars for selling out DOD secrets along with his shody weapons to cartels in South America or to warlords in Africa, who had recently become a pain in SHIELD's ass.

However, Fury's actions may cause them to lose the services of Jean Grey and her telepathic gift.

Phil continued, "She must have her reasons to meet with the Brotherhood; the girl doesn't feel safe even with us, even with all her power she says we cannot win. She might not look like it, but the attack two days ago rattled her; in her place, with all those parameters, would you have put all your hope into one organization?"

Fury shook his head, straightened his jacket and focused on Phil. "You speak as if she was already an agent or someone _rational_, she's not in the business. We shouldn't treat her as if she was."

Phil turned to stare at Jean who was helping up the mother of the family she had saved into the EMT's truck. He smiled, and Jean returned his gaze, waving at him to come to her. "She clearly acts like an agent, but you are right too. Jean Grey needs to be called on her actions, Director Carter has called a meeting at the Grey's."

The blackman jumped up in surprise and cringed. "How bad is this going to be?"

Phil put on his sunglasses, his smile thin. "Nick, I will be frank, Peggy is pissed at you."

Fury facepalmed and groaned. "Motherfucker!"

**# # #**

**(Margaret Elizabeth "Peggy" Carter)**

**Grey Penthouse  
04:35 PM**

The golden and pale liquid flowed from the glass jug into the glass placed on the low table. Elaine Grey then added some ice cubes and Peggy thanked the younger woman. Worry lines marred Elaine Grey's face as she sat on the sofa, facing Peggy's. Peggy could understand her worry; if her own daughter had been getting into this much trouble she would be as worried; then again Sharon, her niece, who she had helped enlist in SHIELD was the same kind of troublemaker as the redheaded hellion of the Grey family.

Elaine wore a white button dress with sandals, wearing no makeup, but she was a stunning woman, even in her late thirties. To Peggy, the woman was in dire need of something stronger than lemonade, maybe a cognac or a whiskey.

"That girl, one of these days, she will kill me with worry." Elaine's sigh was deep as she delicately put her empty glass on the table.

Peggy, who knew better, decided to enlighten Jean's mother. "You have no idea how dangerous Jean is, if I was in your place I would worry for others."

Elaine's gaze became mutinous, washed in denial. "Jean wouldn't…"

Peggy crossed her legs and interrupted Elaine. "Jean has killed before, Elaine. Of course it's not anything we can prove, but we know she has."

The blonde lowered her eyes and deflated. She recalled Jean admitting how she turned people into vegetables and the two would be rapists that she killed seven weeks ago that Elektra told her about.

Elaine looked brittle, and the long, deprecating chuckle that left her made Peggy worry. "It's hard to visualize such a sweet girl reduced to doing such things." Elaine admitted, evidently miserable.

The two women heard the door to the penthouse lobby open, and they rushed to their feet. Phil entered first, followed by Jean who clenched her fists in anger. Behind her, Fury entered the lobby possessing all the confidence of a man about to get on the electric chair. Phil jumped to the side when he saw Jean's mother move faster than a missile at cruise speed toward her daughter and hugged her fiercely. "Jean!"

The redhead looked embarrassed when she saw Peggy and Phil smile at them. "I am okay mom, I'm okay." Jean patted her mother's back soothingly.

Elaine stepped back from her daughter, holding her by the shoulders and glared at her. "Don't be cheeky!"

There was no defiance in her gaze, Jean looked torn though. Peggy had an inkling that Jean felt the emotions her mother did, and it was getting to her. It was good to know that she couldn't always be cool and humorous all the time. "I'm sorry. I couldn't let Frank and his family die, mom. I didn't even think, but Maria was about to die and..." Jean babbled to Elaine.

Peggy intervened, her voice booming, "What happened really?"

Everyone exchanged glances, with the exception of Fury, who was currently in the doghouse. The tension and the anger present in Jean's shoulders and expression slowly bled out, replaced by relief. "I see that there's lemonade. I guess I can tell you all what I did today."

Elaine took her daughter by the arm. "As if you had a choice in the matter, young lady."

Her mother pulled her toward the living room. As Peggy and her agents followed her, they heard the young woman say under her breath. "Sorry for assuming…"

Elaine sat her wayward daughter and put a glass of lemonade in her hand and answered her with, "You know what they say about assuming, Jean."

Jean rolled her eyes. "No comment."

Then Jean began to recount her tale, how she met Raven Darkholm as a bird and noticed a human mind coming from a… big Raven (the bird) and discovered it was spying on them from the veranda. After threatening to punt her into the sky, getting to know the other mutant and debating about the us versus them mentality, Jean agreed to meet Magneto two days later.

"Wait, you could have told us…" Phil tried to say, leaning forward on the blood red sofa.

Jean interrupted Phil with a wave toward Fury. "Hot shot there would have attempted to arrest them."

"I wanted information and the unvarnished truth on Mr Lhensherr. I already know Xavier's stance on the effects the reveal of my people's existence on society would cause, and I needed to know about the Brotherhood's stance too. Thanks to my special gift I know a bit about his organization." Jean smiled, shooting a derisive glance at Fury.

Fury was about to interrupt her but Jean ignored him, still angry at the man for his attempts to cut her off from her powers."At first he wanted me to join him, badly. Then I showed him why he didn't want to recruit me by putting down one of his more vocal subordinates and insinuating that I would take his organization from under him."

There was a catch in Elaine's voice as she heard how casually her daughter seemed proud of having beaten up someone.

Jean quickly added, "Don't worry I left the boy who attacked me alive."

*She still didn't tell us in which state, I noticed.* Peggy said in her heart.

Jean looked at The redhead her, shrugged and then smiled but her demeanor suddenly became more somber. "By the way, I have bad news." She said, placing the glass on the table. Peggy frowned, a bad feeling weighing down on her when Jean's gaze focused on her, her expression neutral. "What could be worse than what happened today?"

The Director instantly regretted jinxing herself when Jean reported what she learned from the terrorists.

Jean opened her mouth, speaking in a conspiratorially low tone, "Magneto's got an asteroid base in space, I think it's still under construction. The brief moment I touched him wasn't enough to have a full read. Then there's this fuzzy plan about boosting the powers of his people with some kind of space rock to irradiate them, it's not lethal from what I understand."

"Motherfucker! As if we needed that, right now!" The super spy stood up, expression harried.

"Language!" All three women shouted in sync, glaring.

_Cough_. "Sorry." He apologised, not looking sorry in the slightest. He placed his glass down. "I will go contact our guys at NASA about this, if there's an asteroid base somewhere in space, it must be near orbit." Fury stated, taking his communicator and leaving the room, then the penthouse.

Everyone noticed how relieved he was of escaping Peggy's ire or reprimand. Phil chuckled at his friend, he was taking note of Jean's tale on his notepad. Peggy hadn't noticed he was doing so before, she nodded at him for his prescience.

Jean cleared her throat and asked hopefully, "Can I continue or do you have something else to do too?"

Peggy stared at Jean, unimpressed by her sass. "Nick will take care of it. Now, continue if you please."

Jean shrugged. "Sure." She complied, continuing to recount her day, "Well, after we finished the picnic-"

"Wait." Peggy raised her hand, shocked that Jean broke fast with a man like Magneto. "You had a picnic with terrorists?"

Jean rolled her eyes, annoyed at the interruption. "Well… yes. Can I continue now?"

Peggy pinched herself. It hurt, so she was not dreaming. "Unbelievable."

Phil intervened helpfully, feeling the young woman's irritation. "Jean, please continue."

She continued to tell her tale, narrating how she evaded SHIELD agents looking for her in central park until she had enough and wanted to go home. That's when she stumbled across the Castle family who were about to be collateral damage in a brief gang war that she put a brutal end to and ended up saving the mother.

Peggy regretted that doctor Wright wasn't here as the redhead expunged in details on how she performed a light surgery on Mrs Castle.

"Then Fury arrived and surrounded us, all the agents pointing their weapon at us. I could feel Maria's fear for her kids and Frank's for his family. It was worse when he showed me that power inhibitor, I won't lie, I almost… went wild there." Jean raised her arms in frustration.

The older woman was really curious how a teenager with all of Jean's power would react to the possibility of being afoul of the law. Would she give up her freedom or would she fight tooth and nail? Sometimes the girl was either doing good or doing something morally grey. Peggy was aware she had suffered a lot when she was young, dealing with that man and his minions after her.

It changed her.

Peggy straightened the lapel of her jacket. "What did you feel at that moment, Jean?" Jean looked to the side, a tell she had that indicated she didn't want to answer. She laughed off the question with a non-answer. "Hey don't try to psychoanalyze me, everyone gets a bit of Incarcerophobia from time to time."

The Director continued on the same train of thought, not at all deigning to consider the immature deflection worth her time. "Not everyone has your power Jean, you could-"

Jean snapped, interrupting Peggy from launching into a full-on debate. "The next person or group of people trying that with me, I will kill them after taking everything away from them."

Elaine gasped at her daughter's outburst, seeing her cold eyes when she looked at her. She raised from her seat, going to seek some privacy, and Jean's gaze trailed after her, looking at Elaine's departing back.

Peggy thought about the gungho attitude that Nick had been developing since he met the young redhead, always thinking the worst of her. There was no way any good relationship could come out of such behavior. Coulson's relationship with Jean was one Nick would never have and that may be detrimental in the long run as she expected Jean to enlist later. It pained her to do that to one of her closest friends but Peggy would have to give the girl a new handler.

"That's fair." Peggy mused.

Jean's head snapped towards Peggy, sizing her up. Shrugging, she said, "Cool, we agree on this."

The redhead quickly changed the subject. "Say, what's going to happen for school? I don't have a car anymore, are you going to lend me something?"

Peggy frowned, seeing how her baby spy was trying to maneuver her into giving her a vehicle for transportation purposes. Didn't Jean understand that no one would trust her to be alone anymore? The older woman chuckled at the attempt, "Oh, you poor soul! You think you are going to be doing your own driving? No, I have assigned you a new protective detail."

The girl flinched. "But what about my friends?" Her voice was small, so unlike Jean Grey. Peggy took on a matronly smile. "Don't worry, they can get a ride too."

The horror blossoming on Jean's pretty face was worth all the trouble she kept causing; Peggy was enjoying this with delight. It was one of the little things she had come to like in her old age.

Jean's gaze became even more scared. "But… what about the rumors? School will get even harder if everyone thinks I am some kind of rich muckety muck!"

Peggy didn't care, but for the sake of propriety she sighed heavily. "We all have to sacrifice for safety, my dear."

Scowling, Jean crossed her arms, her lips turned to a pout. "I thought you were one of the good guys?"

Peggy guffawed, took the lemonade pitcher and poured herself another glass. Picking it up, she watched Jean, teaching her another lesson. "Dear, let me let you in on the secret. The good guys can be evil too."

**# # #**

**(Peter Parker)**

**October 28th, 1996  
Midtown High**

Monday arrived with a vengeance. It was 7:45 AM and even Peter felt that it was too early to be in the school's parking lot, waiting for his friends and nemesis to arrive. He yawned, still shocked about the events that unfolded the night before- some guy with white skin with black spots had been emptying bank vaults by teleporting the money away.

It had been a gruelling battle that had taken a lot out of him; the normal mooks knew better than to try to take him on, now. Now the weirdos came out the woodwork, on his turf and they were harder to take down. *Had to beat up this spot guy till he became white and unable to create those black circular Warp holes all over his skin.*

In the end the man could not throw an unlimited number of space warps, because he primarily drews on the ones on his own body. That had been special… tasting his own punches revealed to him how strong he had become, but damn if it didn't hurt. His hand lifted to his left cheek, and he could still feel the hit of the punch Spot made him give himself.

The horn of a school bus pulled him out of his musings, the yellow and black vehicle parking in the lot and disbursed students. Peter didn't know what to expect; last friday, Jessica and Patsy had come on the bus, announcing that Jean had been in an accident and that her car was totally trashed because a van collided with her vehicle. Cindy had confirmed it too, but Peter felt that there was more to the story.

*No Jones.* It seemed that they were on another bus?

Peter's attention shifted from the bus to a familiar Land Rover which pulled up at the entrance of the school parking lot. The door opened, revealing the single most beautiful girl. She had a white frilly top covered by a red woolen cardigan, black skinny jeans and brown ankle boots. He saw her look into the crowd of students until her eyes found him, her face lighting up with a smile that made him fall for her even more.

Gwen retrieved her bag from the SUV, bidding goodbye to her mother, a woman her splitting image but just older. Then the fairy like girl walked up to him, avoiding the throng of students. Her eyes scanned for the other girls who had become part of their circle at his side and she frowned when she failed to locate them. Peter was ambivalent with his new friendships. Jessica and Patsy were okay, but Jean and Cindy were… intense.

He still feared that Jean could take Gwen from him. He knew he shouldn't feel this way, but he did. She didn't belong to him, she was her own woman. Nevertheless, the little blonde was still clearly receptive to Jean's flirting and he wasn't the only one who felt that way as he knew Cindy hated Gwen and she felt threatened by her.

Peter chuckled as Gwen arrived before him. His best friend and secret crush still gave no fucks about the venomous stares sent her way by the clearly obsessed South Korean sporty girl.

What really pained him, was that Peter had found himself in an intellectual competition with Jean, she knew Gwen's favorite subjects and then they entered their own world that he couldn't even decipher. As a result, Peter applied himself to not feel excluded.

"Hey, Pete." She kissed him on the cheek which resulted in his cheeks reddening.. "Gwen." Peter nodded awkwardly.

The pixie blonde frowned, placing her hand on his forehead. "You okay? You look pale."

Shaking his head, Peter lied, "I didn't sleep much last night, too much side science projects." But it was also technically the truth.

Gwen nodded, then took a comb out of her bag and began to comb his hair and told him in a reproachful tone, "You should take better care of yourself, and I hope that you'll be able to show me those projects of yours." She gave his outfit a pointed look. He wore a baggy grey woolen shirt covering a frumpy black t-shirt and khaki pants. Gwen was also not impressed with his choice of shoes, dark brown boots that had seen better days.

Everyone looked at them. Some boys were snickering at him and some girls were secretly cooing at the scene.

Flushing even more, Peter stuttered, "I...I will try."

Placing her comb back in her bag, she leaned against the wall that served as a meeting point for their group, directly adjacent to where the popular kids assembled and parked their cars.

"Where's everyone?" Gwen kept looking for their friends.

Peter looked at his watch. "It's already 8:00 am. Don't worry, Jean… and the others will come."

Gwen's head turned to Peter who suddenly felt himself being judged. "You still don't like her, Pete? Even after everything she's done for us?"

The brown haired young man averted his eyes from the inquisitive gaze of his friend. She was referring to how the bullying had stopped completely because Jean Grey had promised pain and hellfire on anyone bothering him, Gwen or either of the Jones girls. Peter didn't feel as grateful as he should be; he was sure that he could have fended off the likes of Flash or Harry Osborn in the long run.

Some of the other guys already questioned his masculinity for hiding behind the skirt of a girl or thinking that he was gay, not that there was anything bad about having same sex preferences. Peter felt put upon and that he needed something to avoid answering this trap-like question. As if God had heard him, a ready made distraction arrived, Peter said loudly, "Ah, Cindy's arrived."

Gwen turned, and just as well the asian girl walked toward them. "She has."

He looked smug but the smirk was wiped clear when she looked back at him with a threatening smile. "Don't think that this pathetic attempt at distraction will save you, Pete."

Peter began to sweat profusely, a nervous laugh bubbling out of him. *That's my Gwen, too smart to not see through me.*

Cindy's fashion, though not flashy, certainly was practical. It could even be called stylish. She wore a simple black and white t-shirt with an AC/DC band logo that she tied to show off her midriff covered by a black leather jacket originally owned by her girlfriend. Her jeans were a classic pair that were held by a studded black leather belt, and she finished the look off with soft black boots. She had a grungy look to her that Peter could appreciate, after all, Cindy was a really pretty girl.

The black haired girl took off her sunglasses, flipped her long mane back and acknowledged Gwen with a nod. "Stacy."

Gwen's eyes focused from Pete's face to Cindy's, "Moon."

An awkward silence hovered over them, and Peter coughed to break it and greet his friend? Acquaintance? He couldn't say what she was to him, but she treated him well. "Hi Cindy."

The change of expression on Cindy's face when she spoke to him was jarring. She smiled at him, "Hello Peter, how are you today?" As soon as the question left her, she frowned, walking up to him and placing a hand on his cheek. "You look pale, are you eating well?"

Gwen snorted. "That's almost what I said."

Cindy rolled her eyes, then her expression switched to concern. "It hurts me to think that Stacy is right, but you should take care of yourself more. I mean, I don't know what you do at night but this isn't the first time we noticed how unwell you look in the morning."

It touched him that someone other than Gwen or aunt May cared for him, but those girls were being too sharp for his taste, and no one should know about his late night activities. Peter calmed down, scratching behind his head, ears tinged red with embarrassment. "Huh ok, girls… I am fine. I-"

He was interrupted by the fact that a convoy of at least five cars entered the parking lot. The vehicles began to spread out and once they came to a halt, a muscular man in a black suit, wearing shades, exited the first vehicle. His eyes scanned his surroundings for over half a minute. Everyone around them began to whisper as more men in black exited the cars. Peter could see some of them carrying concealed weapons.

"What the hell? Who are those guys?"

"Do you think something is about to happen?"

"The feds?"

Their questions were answered when one of the men opened the door of the central vehicle and a familiar redhead stepped out, helping a pink haired girl exit, too. It was Jean and Jessica; a second redhead exited the car, looking all smiles. Jean looked nervously around her, and it was clear she was embarrassed by the spectacle. Cindy made a musical giggle. "Of course, it's Jean…" Peter noticed her lack of surprise. "Why does she have an… escort?" Gwen frowned, taking a few steps forward, towards Jean, when Cindy grabbed her arm.

"I know why, but I can't tell you." Cindy singsonged annoyingly, before continuing,"Wait for her to come to us, don't go near those guys."

Gwen wrenched her arm from Cindy's grip, leveling her with a glare, but she relented nonetheless. Cindy's advice wasn't bad; the men in black climbed in their vehicles excluding one who went to park in a free emplacement closer to the administrative building. Jean walked up to their usual meeting place, enduring gazes and whispers. Peter could already hear the rumors flying, and he chuckled at the unease she showcased; it changed from her always smug behavior he had come to detest.

As usual Jean looked fashionable, and highly attractive, her red hair long and perfect with volume, shining like fire under the sun's rays. Peter had no idea where she found her clothes, but she looked damn good in her carmine colored off shoulder front split long black dress; her breasts bounced and almost fell out of the V neck on her front, so much so Peter didn't know where to look! And then there was her tight black pants which clung to her like a glove.

Most of the boys at school fantasized about her, but would never be able to touch or even approach her romantically as her interest was heavily directed to girls. Peter wasn't one of them; the girl was too brutally honest and heavy handed. Peter frowned, finding it strange that everyone accepted her sexual orientation and didn't question it or hate her for it. Where were the snide comments and gossip from earlier this year?

They had suddenly stopped when Jean had done something to the previous cheerleaders squad, but he wasn't sure. Jean strode toward them at high speed, followed by the Jones sisters who looked like normal girls their age but gradually emulated her, this was the case for Patsy who admired Jean a bit too much. She morphed from a sweet, shy girl to a foul mouthed one in a span of a few weeks all because Jean didn't hold her tongue much. Jean spread her arms and Cindy flew into them at the speed of a cruise missile. They smashed their lips together, the PDA making Peter flush again. Gwen looked rather detached from this scene, examining her nails. When the two girls finally came up for air, they spoke in hushed tones. Meanwhile, Jessica and Patsy left them behind.

Patsy was the first to come up to Gwen and hug her, while Jessica looked grumpy. "How are ya girls?"

"Am fine." Jessica said gruffly, wringing with her hands, and not looking at Peter's face.

Jessica was a really pretty girl, though it was difficult to see it at first due to her concealing hoodies that drowned her body and jeans with big boots. Peter had tried to speak with her before she even met Jean Grey and she was an acerbic and really foul mouthed girl. But he could understand, he acted the same way. He lost his uncle and she lost all her family. Since she had met Jean, though, she had been smiling much more, and with her change in mood, her wardrobe also changed.

Jessica wore more colors and form fitting clothes, even adopting a hairstyle that allowed visual access to her face. Her hair was styled in a short haircut with two messy plaits fastened on the ends with elastics; but god forbid that you called her cute, he dared one week ago and she pinched him. *It had hurt.*

Since then Peter had become prudent of what he said to the pink haired girl.

"You don't look fine." Peter insisted, wrapping his hand around her arm.

Her eyes bounced to it, then to his face, worried. She delicately took his hand from her arm and said, "I can't speak about it."

"Oh." Peter crossed his arm. "Did Cindy pass a memo or something? What about the men in black?"

Smiling, Jessica leaned on the wall at his side. "Can't say anything, Pete, I really want to. I think Jean must tell you, Mom had to sign some damn papers to keep my mouth shut…"

Two minutes passed before his curiosity got the best of him. "Is it some secret government shit? Those guys in the cars looked like government agents."

"Jean will tell us. She owes us that at least." Jessica said patiently, taking her CDs Holder from her school bag, sifting through it for some music to listen to.

Peter snorted at that; Jean Grey owed him nothing, she was too busy being the perfect girl to bother with little old him. "You mean, you and the others. We are not exactly friends, her and I…"

Jessica slapped his arm, hard. "Then fucking try, she's a really sweet girl…" she rebuked, then leaned forward, whispering,"and stop acting as if she's going to steal Gwen from you."

With a panicked glance, Peter looked around him and at Gwen speaking with Patsy before they returned to Jessica's amused ones. "How did-"

She patted Peter's cute face and told him with evil glee. "Pete, everyone knows."

His eyes bugged out. "Everyone?"

Jessica nodded. "Everyone, even Gwen. When are you going to grow some balls and ask her out?"

He didn't know what to think. Was he that blind to his surroundings? No wonder the girls kept pushing him to change more, like his wardrobe or the way he walked? They wanted him to get out of his sullen behavior, even Jean.

Looking in Jessica's mirth filled brown eyes, Peter spoke, "I-"

Gwen interrupted him. "What are you two talking about?"

Peter jumped up, startled. "Nothing."

"Right." Jessica took her discman out of her bag, placed the CD inside and put her headphones on; she pushed the play button, effectively ignoring everyone.

"Hey everyone!" Jean arrived and hugged Gwen who kissed her on the cheek.

Gwen's hand glided on Jean's arms and shoulders, touching every part of her body. "Heard you were in an accident, but I see all your little bits attached so it mustn't have been so bad… right?"

A sad expression appeared on the redhead's face. "Well, my Camaro died. That was a big loss."

Patsy feigned some tears, Cindy slapping her on the back of her head before they looked at each other, laughter spurting from them. Peter saw that Jean's sadness was real. He could understand her; driving your own car was a big step toward independence.

"What about the MIB?" Peter asked. Their presence bothered him. Jean was supposed to be a normal girl- she had all her parents and siblings, she was upper middle class, beautiful and smart. She had everything. Peter flinched at this realization. *That's what's bothering me with her, she has everything I have ever wanted. Her parents are alive.*

"Oh them… hum well, guys we have to talk." Jean said, leveling her gaze with everyone's. She then turned to Peter, who was shocked as he didn't expect to be included. "This concerns you too, Peter. Jessica and I... have to speak to you about something. So, can we go to your house this afternoon?"

Peter became wary, the girls surrounded him; even Jessica who didn't pay attention normally was watching him.

He gulped loudly. "W-why my house?"

Everyone giggled which didn't reassure him, at all.

"Because like that you won't run away, idiot." Cindy helpfully added.

Gwen directed puppy eyes at him. "Peter, it seems important you should let her have her way."

Peter knew when he was being manipulated, but he couldn't find the strength to tell his crush _No_. It wasn't surprising that the puppy eyes were super effective and he said in a huff, "Fine."

Jean laughed. "Don't worry, Pete. To make it up to you, I am going to make my special Lasagna."

Jessica and Patsy reacted to that offer, growing rather intense. "Pete, say yes!"

Peter tried taking a step back, but his back was pressed against the wall. "Say yes, Pete!" Gwen urged.

The young man sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I already did!"

Patsy and Jessica high fived in celebration. "Yes!"

**# # #**

**Back with Jean...  
History class  
10:00 AM**

Things were going better than I expected. Seeing Cindy and returning to my usual routine was like a salve on the events of the last week. She didn't hate me, instead it seemed that the danger we had been in actually strengthened her feelings for me. They hinged more toward love than the lust, affection and friendship from before. Gwen was more of a friend now, but she was still acting interested which I knew was an attempt to get Peter to confess his feelings faster.*I can't even get mad at her for it, it's time the boy did something or she will lose interest.*

As for Jessica and Patsy, they stayed as stalwart as ever. I loved my life; I have friends, a girlfriend and powers. But the specter of Nathaniel Essex was still casting a shadow on it all; that is why I found myself in history class sketching a generator which would harness the byproducts of baryonic decay as an energy source. Using the skills and knowledge I gleaned from the SHIELD scientists, along with the memories of my other self who had seen a show employing such technology, I surmised that it was theoretically possible to make one, but a Jovian environment was needed for the production of a prototype.

I shelved the idea, flicking to the next page of my notepad. If I had the Phoenix force, going to space and to other galaxies would be possible but not at this point in time. I knew that it was a question of time before the Raptor of life snapped me up to proceed to my… duties but I hoped it would be a long while before that happened.

The next sketch was the diagram of the molecules that the SHIELD uniform was made of. It was treated in an Electro Bio Chemical solution that made them more than bulletproof. SHIELD scientists were a treasure trove of theories, viable research, and proof of concepts. I even had something like an electro laser schematics that I took from their weapon program.

I was strong at math and physics. I have all this in my head but nowhere to practice. *I need a place out of the way. A lab with all the tools I want, computers, blackboards, work tables and a kitchen, a bed and Cindy. Yes, the last one is super important.*

Then I realized that this notepad of mine was rather dangerous… full of intellectual properties that didn't belong to me. A chuckle left me. *I need a place to hide my things.*

"What is so funny Miss Grey? Does the subject of the prohibition amuse you?" The teacher asked.

All gazes turned to me, but I wasn't fazed.

I shrugged. "Not really, I just find it funny that everyone at the time let a political party, whose sole purpose was to stop the manufacturing and sale of alcoholic beverages in the United States of America, come into power. They should have thought it was a bad idea. I mean, the more you," I chuckled. "Prohibit something, the more certain persons or organizations will distribute it illegally. Nothing had changed during that period and those in power were just being annoying? Yes, that's the word, an inconvenience."

"Hum right, thank you for your opinion, Miss Grey. It is kind of really blunt, but this is essentially what happened." The teacher grudgingly said and turned to the blackboard.

"Your welcome." And I returned to my sketching and plans.

The money I hid in Harlem will help get me a place. Problem is I'm too young to possess that sort of money, but someone who isn't my dad or mom might be able to help. Someone loyal, and I think it's finally time to network in the criminal world.

**# # #**

**03:45 PM  
Parker residence**

We disembarked from the cars now that the school day ended. s It was a quick trip from school to Peter's house; the agents even let us make a pitstop to the nearest supermarket to purchase ingredients before driving us to the Parkers'. It wasn't as good as our house in Annandale-on-Hudson, but it looked rather cozy. I passed an analytical eye over the front garden of the house surrounded by painted white picket fence.

"It's so cliché that I don't know what to say." I mumbled.

"Hey!" Peter heard me, his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. I poked my tongue out, then chuckled.

Cindy came to my side, her arm wrapping around my waist as she looked critically at Peter's house and the neighbor's. "Peter's house is well taken care of, compared to the ones neighboring his. Wait is that Mary Jane Watson?"

The redhead looked at them from the door of the house on the right, that had a yellowed lawn. Unwashed walls, falling down fences and roof tiles in need of a good replacement; it looked like the owners had completely given up on making it look good. When I made eye contact with Mary Jane, I shot her a smile to which she returned with an icy glare of her own before slamming the door shut. I snickered. "Yeah, that's her alright."

Cindy tilted her head. "Why did she run and slam the door?"

It was obvious to me that the glamorous and beautiful Mary Jane Watson didn't want us to know about her humble origins, she was also ashamed of them. I understood it, but found the young woman wanting. It was easy to transcend your own roots by taking care of yourself and working for a better tomorrow.

"Who knows, nothing is alright in that girl's head. She sounds so vapid…" I shrugged, grabbed my grocery bag, and followed Peter who continued to grumble about bossy girls.

The agents spread around the neighborhood, the teams having switched at midday; two cars were parked at the north and south of Peter's house, and there was an outside perimeter and two agents on foot carrying weapons. SHIELD wasn't taking any chance that we could be attacked it seemed.

When Peter pushed open the white door, I saw that it allowed a view directly on the living room. There were walls separating the well furnished kitchen and minimal dining table. There were stairs leading to the first floor; I pushed my awareness everywhere in the house. I noted there was an underground basement and three bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs and two toilets on the ground floor and first floor. It wasn't a big house by any stretch, but the place was clean, tidy and well decorated with beige curtains, silver artwork and glass figurines everywhere.

*Note to self, ask Aunt May for advice on house decoration.*

"Pete, where's your aunt?" I asked, my gaze bouncing everywhere. I wanted to know which version of Aunt May I would be speaking with; if it's the grandmotherly one, she's going to be easy to deal with. The young one though? Peter was fucked if it's her, she might already know that he was spiderman.

Raising an eyebrow Peter answered with, "Working, of course."

"Okay, well.. let's start with cooking."

Finding the tools was no problem and everyone pitched in and helped out. Peter sure tried to, but Gwen made him peel the onions. Jessica found the lasagna pan made of glass and helped with the first step of preparing the ingredients that consisted of cooking the meat and browning the onions and garlic, stirring them into crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, sauce and water.

Gwen passed me the ingredients to season everything. We let everything simmer for an hour and a half. It was when we were waiting, along with occasionally stirring the dish, that I opened the floodgates with, "Everyone, I've got super powers."

Everyone stopped what they were doing. Peter who was cleaning a glass pitcher in the kitchen sink whirled back and almost let it fall but caught it in time before it reached the ground. I decided to make my point, so I caught it with my mind and pulled it from Peter's hands. The pitcher floated in the air.

"Blunt as ever." Jessica commented, nursing a can of pepsi.

I scowled at the pink haired devil. "Hey! Don't judge, you pepsi philistine."

Jessica raised her can. "Coke slut."

I grinned, shooting back, "And proud of it."

Patsy and Cindy watched the pitcher dance into the air. Gwen looked at it, then looked at me in quick succession for thirty seconds before she clapped her hands and said, "Okay, so Jean could you put the pitcher down?"

I nodded. "Yes I can."

"Please." She said, her gaze following the pitcher as it descended towards Peter. He caught it, placing it near the kitchen sink on a clean towel.

Staring at everyone, Peter loudly stated, "Is there anyone who needs to make another revelation?"

Jessica raised from the sofa, downed her can of pepsi and crushed it in her hand until it was a ball of aluminium the size of a penny. She threw it at Peter who caught it, then looked at it with wonder. He could do something similar but he'd risk cutting himself.

"Jean has Telekinesis. And Jessica Super strength and Durability? What else?" Peter asked aloud.

"Flight." Jessica admitted, rather smug as she began to hover slowly in the air. I followed her and then looked at Cindy who was watching me with awe. With a wave the asian girl levitated off the sofa and landed in my arms.

"What about me?!" Patsy whined.

I levitated her and brought her to her sister. Gwen followed, flailing a lot until she calmed down and began to giggle. Peter sat on a stool with a thoughtful expression.

"Hey Pete, why don't you tell us what your talent is?" I asked while letting the other girls play with levitation in the living room.

"W-what are you talking about I am…"

"Peter." I landed, staring him straight in the eyes. "Don't be stubborn, I know that you are spiderman."

Everyone froze, silence descending upon them. Whereas Gwen gasped, the others acted as though it wasn't a big deal.

"I am not." He said stubbornly.

He was having another one of his bout of jealousy, thinking that I was handed everything he wanted. Poor guy shouldn't envy me; my enemies make his look like cookie cutter villains. My powers were more versatile and cooler than his, that's what he thought.

I smiled at that, then focused my will on the kitchen knives on the island. "Fine, you brought this on yourself."

The knives silently flew free from their wooden sheath and sped toward Peter who felt them coming and jumped to the side when a knife targeted his neck, and then there was one targeting his hands that he retracted back at the last second. He jumped and pirouetted on himself to avoid three knives coming in low at high speed.

Then he was on the ceiling sticking to the white plaster to evade all the knives attacking in all directions. I stopped attacking him and placed the knives back in their wooden sheath on the kitchen island.

"So, mister I am not spiderman what are you sayin' now?"

"You could have killed me!" Peter shouted, his scowl fierce.

I snorted at him. "If I wanted you dead, Parker, you would be."To prove the statement, I grabbed him from the ceiling and put him down on the sofa.

"I-." Peter tried to say, but Gwen floated herself to his side, enveloping him in a hug.

Five minutes of silence had passed when Peter decided to stop acting like a bitch. Jessica and he spoke about how much they could lift. The little pixie blonde growled at Jessica who just smiled at her. **Yes, Peter is hers, back off Jess.** I sent via my mind to Jessica who raised her hand once placated by my mind voice.

"Am I the only one who wants super powers too?" Gwen interjected as Jessica floated away from Peter with an excuse.

Cindy and Patsy raised their hands. "Don't worry girls, I know how to get you some! Stick with me and you'll have your super powers." I added.

Cindy and Patsy smiled at that and then returned to the kitchen, time was up and it was time to continue the lasagna.

As I passed him, Peter caught my hand, glaring at me. "How can you just promise something like that?"

Tilting my head, I thought about it. "Well, the same way you got your powers. You got bit by a radioactive spider. There are alternative ways to get powers in this world. I was born with mine and Jessica was in an accident caused by a truck that was transporting special chemicals, then Steve Rogers got to be a super soldier thanks to some kind of serum. I can promise that to my friends because I know some things you don't, Peter."

I know where the only vial of super soldier serum is at, then there was magic that they could learn. So many possibilities… Peter's mind began to churn; I have to hand him that, Peter wasn't just a cute face, he was smart and he figured something about me.

He released my hand quickly as though my touch scalded him. "Your power… you aren't a simple telekinetic…"

Grinning at him, I waved my finger at him, and he flinched. I laughed. "And that's everything I will reveal today."

We returned to our lasagna making adventure, Peter watching me for the full duration as though I was a bomb about to go off at any time. I sent Gwen to occupy his mind while Jessica, Cindy and I were finishing. It was 6:12 PM when a delicious smell of well baked lasagna wafted down from the kitchen while we played cards.

"Aaaah! I almost forgot." I cried out as I was about to pass the Queen of diamond to Peter.

Cindy looked surprised. "Jean?"

I sighed. "Peter, Gwen. Last thursday, Cindy and I, we almost got kidnapped and hum, I kinda work for some secret organization."

"Okay back up, tell us everything in order."

I proceeded to tell them about the man after me for my powers and the goons he often sends my way since I was twelve years old when my abilities first manifested. I especially avoided telling how I disposed of Sinister's goons; Peter might get a stroke because of his no kill code. Then, I told them how SHIELD had brow beaten me into coming into their services and now I worked for them to ensure my protection. I also told them about Xavier and Magneto and how bad they truly were.

"I don't see a problem with that Xavier guy's way." Peter voiced.

He really thought that… and because I didn't want to get into a shouting match with him I nodded, "Huhu, think what you want Pete."

Gwen went to take the lasagna out of the oven and let it air for a bit; that's when the front door opened and a beautiful and tall older brunette appeared. She wore a pantsuit that accentuated her womanly curves. She looked surprised to see so many girls around Peter.

With a bright easy smile, May looked at her nephew and said, "Peter, I know I teased you about bringing your girlfriend home, but you shouldn't have brought all of them."

"Aunt May..." Peter facepalmed, emitting a low groan and quickly fleeing to the kitchen. I couldn't help but giggle with everyone at Peter's reaction. As I did so, my hand snaked under Cindy's shirt as aunt May was being introduced to everyone. Jessica and Patsy were first, she already knew Gwen so it was Cindy's and my turn. "I am Jean, and this is my girlfriend, Cindy."

"Ah, you two look cute together." May acknowledged, her smile genuine as her gaze bounced back and forth between Cindy and I.

There wasn't a mean bone in her body, she really thought what she said. "I didn't expect you to be accepting of my sexual orientation, some people are not as understanding…"

"Ah pish! I am not a stuck up bigot, I... experimented when I was in college." May waved my worries away.

"Too much information aunt May!" Peter shouted from the kitchen.

"Don't be a prude, Pete!" May shouted back.

She was full of life with a playful, witty disposition, that was endearing. I found myself liking her more and more. We invited May to eat with us after we set up the table, though it would be hard not to, this was her house after all. Then she asked us who made the delicious lasagna when we finally dug in. Everyone looked at me.

"Cindy, don't let this one go." May looked serious. She took another bite of the lasagna and cooed a storm.

Amber colored eyes turned to me, looking intense as usual and then Cindy patted my thigh. "I don't intend to, she's amazing."

This earned her a quick kiss on the cheek from me. Then we all began to speak about inane and mundane things; Gwen and Peter worried about the exams before halloween, Jessica was listening to Patsy whine about the new ballet class their mom conscripted her into.

Once everyone finished eating, May wiped her mouth with a tissue and looked at me. "So… would it be too much to ask for this lasagna recipe?"

With a smile plastered on my face and a raised eyebrow, I entered negotiation mode. "It depends Mrs Parker, are you willing to exchange it for something as yummy."

May sighed theatrically, showing me a pained expression. "You drive a hard bargain, I shall take it though, and please call me May."

May dashed in search of a pen and paper. When she got back, I noticed Peter looking at me with a smile on his face. He finally stopped doubting me but there was still something holding him back. I shrugged, lacking the energy to work on him right now. May was finally there and from memory I wrote down the ingredients, the times for each of the steps taken to make my family's lasagna. It took ten minutes.

Our time together was coming to an end for the day when Cindy chose to remind us of something not too important but that we had promised to do for Flash. "What are you going to wear for the Halloween party that Flash and Harry Osborn organized, I plan to dress as Princess Kitana from the Mortal Kombat movie."

I quickly looked at the date on the calendar pinned on May's fridge. Gwen began panicking, Peter just shrugged and the Jones sisters smiled, it seemed they had already anticipated it. "I'm going to go as a Kunoichi."

Cindy shook her head, leveling me with _the look_; she had seen my sketchbook before and what I thought of how a female ninja should be clothed as. "Please tell me it's not going to be like the slutty one you drew in your sketchbook?"

*Damn you, Sensei, for influencing me.* I cursed Elektra.

I hugged her and whispered in her ear, "Don't ask questions and I won't lie to you, darling. But I am sure you'll like it."

As I thought fast, mom and I had enough old things to create a subpar costume. While I thought that, my other self decided to intervene, giving me an image to focus on. It was a 3D picture of a character class from Desert Black or some such, Kunoichi and wow it seemed more than slutty but… I liked it! *I might add some black leggings for modesty. The Kunai I could make them with my TK and blunt them, the mask and sword are going to be trickier.*

"Jean?" Cindy poked me in the side.

I craned my neck downwards slightly, my eyes finding hers, she was kind of shorter than I. "Ah sorry I was thinking about my costume. What were you saying?"

She grasped the straps of her bag hanging from her shoulder, handing me mine. "It's time to go."

"Oh okay!" It was a school day so we couldn't stay more. Taking my bag, we bid goodbye to May and Peter.

Gwen was staying a while longer as her mother had told her that she would come pick her up. We left the Parker house and brought Jessica and Patsy back home; the SHIELD agents didn't mind. Then we did the same for Cindy who I especially said goodbye to with a passionate kiss, she left with a smile on her face to her apartment's building.

**# # # **

**Queens  
Grey Penthouse  
08:02 PM**

Finally I reached home. Once I was in the penthouse, I informed mom that I already ate at my friend's, and to leave the leftovers of dinner for me in a Tupperware in the fridge. I would eat those tomorrow at school, for lunch. Walking through the corridors of the penthouse, I mused over how the day went as I climbed up the stairs that led to my bedroom. The escort detail, going to look for Jessica and Patsy, their reaction when their mom was being made aware about my kidnapping attempt. They had become rather clingy after that, subtly flanking me, and paying better attention to our surroundings than they would normally. Then Jessica and I outing ourselves to our friends. All those were important events that were either manipulated by me or by happenstance; and I needed a way to take advantage of them for later in the game, after Sinister was dealt with.

There was so much to do, and I couldn't gauge how much time I had before Sinister had enough of waiting and dispatched his real heavy hitter to come take me. It could be tomorrow or next month– time would tell. Closing my bedroom door, I flung my bag at the feet of my bed, stripping off my clothes and doing the same with them. The door to the bathroom opened itself, and I landed on the clean bathroom floor while thinking about what I was going to do tonight.

I needed an ally, someone loyal through and through; someone who wouldn't shy away from committing dirty deeds for good reasons. They had to be mentally and ethically flexible as well, while also being aware of when they couldn't cross the line.

Those requirements floated in my head while I was in the shower, shampooing my hair and applying African black soap on my body with repetitive but careful movements for another five minutes everywhere. Thinking was never hard in the shower; I could release my worries and actually l find solutions to my problems after some relaxation.

Twenty minutes later, I left the shower cabin with the bare bones of a plan slowly growing in my mind. Willing myself to be dry, my power answered and the water evaporated from my skin and hair. No pesky hairdryer to damage my hair for me, thank you. I brushed my teeth, then directed my thoughts to this halloween party that I had decided to participate in.

It had slipped my mind as I had more pressing business occupying my thoughts, like the kidnapping attempt or meeting with Magneto and the Brotherhood lite. In the end they weren't all that much, I mean they have to hide like prey and espouse an ideology of hate and intolerance; and I wasn't interested in it. After meeting the Brotherhood, I realized they were a part of the problem I needed to resolve.

"Sooner or later, I will either convert them or destroy them completely." I promised aloud, telling myself I would be merciful but also savvy, if some of them don't want to change accidents could be arranged later.

The future was uncertain and full of horror perpetuated by Mutant or Human. *Wait! Mutant, Human, Mutant, Human. _**Meta**__human_? That's a good name, better than _Innovade _and... Already taken by DC comics. Fuck them, I will use it. You know what? To avoid getting sued, I will buy them, Warner too.*

I planned to grow wealthier than Stark anyway. The first step would be to set up a workshop, buy the tools to make the tools needed to build the tech that I wanted. 2010+ tech to start with, then I will go to infinity and beyond. Floating a Nirvana band t-shirt, panties and short shorts, I put them on absently. Once I was clothed, I felt a presence nearing my room and by the texture of the thoughts I guessed that it was mom.

_Knock. Knock._

"Enter."

Mom entered the room, beaming at me, but I knew something was wrong as it failed to reach her eyes. opened the door and entered my room, she gave me a big smile.. With her long blonde hair unbound and red satin long nightgown. I stared at my mom. I hoped that I would age this well when I will be her age. She did look like me when she was a teen.

When she looked at the ground, with clothes strewn everywhere, and books I didn't bother to place back on the shelves, a displeased expression showed on her face. Without saying anything I gathered my clothes under her inscrutable eyes. Throwing them in the laundry basket near my closet, I used my TK to return to the books back on the bookshelves.

I smiled at her, but it fell short when I felt mom continue to watch me, as if she was searching for something familiar. She was feeling distraught and sad.

"Hey mom, did you need anything? Or is this a surprise inspection of my bedroom?" I asked her, waving lamely. She often did surprise inspections, and the punishments she gave me were legendary when I didn't clean up.

After a long moment of silence, Mom breathed-in, her voice hesitant when she spoke, "Sweetheart… We must talk about-"

I tilted my head and finished her sentence thanks to what was at the forefront of her thoughts. "The killings? Sure." I said in a rather blasé attitude.

Mom's thoughts became more chaotic as I sat on my bed, crossed my legs and stared at her in a detached manner. I felt that this was going to be bad. Elaine Grey lived in a neat and ordered world, completely different from what Marvel had been throwing at me on unsuspecting days. Having powers in this universe was a curse; there was no good or evil, the universe simply was.

She observed me for a long time, searching for a reaction. I showed none. The sooner she accepted that it was not going to change, the happier she would be.

"D-Don't you feel anything about it?" She seemed bothered by me not feeling anything about it.

I leaned forward and said in a bored voice, "Mom, what do you really want me to say? That I am sorry, and that I don't sleep at night because I see those people's faces all the time?" I served her with all the cliché things I heard about killing.

Other-self chastised me and gave me a headache by shouting in my head. She never liked it when I became mean with my parents, but it was warranted in this situation. I shrugged, continuing, "I stopped thinking like that after the first three times they attempted to take me, even when I escaped and let them live, they kept coming. They almost succeeded one day, you know? I remember when I was twelve years old and those two clones tried to take me from the street on the way to school and that I'd been forced to turn them into vegetables." I snapped my fingers.

I, Jean Grey, was the product of my surroundings; without knowing, Sinister was forging and honing a blade that would strike at him sooner or later.

My eyes met mom's glistening ones. Feeling her emotions, and reading her surface thoughts, I realised she lamented the fact that I didn't have a good enough childhood, what with Annie's death, the bullying in elementary school, me putting some of my bullies in the hospital and the fact that I had no friends before finally finding some in high school. She blamed herself for not seeing any of those problems and dealing with them for me, as my mother.

*This wasn't her fault. Other self is right. I am being mean.*

Sighing, I raised from the bed, walking up to her and taking her hands in mine. "When I kill someone it's often for a good reason. I stopped feeling guilty about it and moved on. Think of me as a cop or a special agent of SHIELD– they have to kill people when they have no choice or when the baddies take hostages."

"Your father gave me the same explanation, he didn't see the problem with what you are doing either, but I guess it's just me who sees one…?" Elaine lowered her eyes sadly, with a contrite expression.

Enfolding her in my arms, I hugged mom tightly and whispered in her ear, "Mom, you know I love you right? You are a good person, and you aren't made for the kind of world I found myself in. That's why I will protect you with everything I have, always."

I stepped back from her but still held on her arms, my expression serious. I tried to reassure her by saying, "If anyone threatened you or took you from me there's nothing I wouldn't do to get you back. I think in those terms when I do what I do."

There was some last token resistance to my way of thinking in Mom. "But what gives you the right? We have laws for this, you should be having fun with your friends and not care about anything but being a kid."

I pulled mom to my bed and we sat, and I instantly said what weighed on my mind. "Mom, under the veneer of civilization, humans are all animals. We are messed up, balls of instincts and needs, even with laws in place we seek to advance ourselves and strive for power, status, sex and shiny things. People don't care about laws, they only fear it's enforcers and being put away for good in a box. At least that's how I see it in their minds, only the consequences stop everyone from killing each other."

I continued. "And about being a kid? Sure, but I am growing up, still it's thanks to you listening to me and letting me go to Midtown high that I have some normal friends. Friends who will follow me all my life. So mom, don't worry, sooner or later that guy trying to kidnap me will make a mistake, and I will kill him for it. Then, finally I'll be free, and can stop placing my life on hold and constantly looking over my shoulder."

With this, mom's conscience was laid to rest. I hugged her again before she returned to bed to sleep. Glancing at the clock on the white wall near my bed, I saw that it was already 10:00 pm.

**# # #**

My body was asleep in my bed, and my astral form was now overseeing the building where my parent's penthouse was located. My plan about seeking someone was now on the rail and I was sifting through the thought streams of everyone in the mental detection field in my radius. Eight kilometers is what I could keep under control without succumbing to madness with many thoughts assailing and overwhelming me.

I'd slowly but surely push myself to double that amount by the end of this month, until one day, I'd be more efficient than Xavier, and distance would not hinder me in any way. *And I will need no Cerebro to cheat.* Until then, I would stick with what I knew how to do.

As I was saying, my mind accessed the thought streams and I began searching for specific thought patterns and emotions. I don't know how to classify this knowledge I had but people's thoughts have flavor and texture, colors even. Each color was linked to an emotion and, in turn, emotions were linked to thoughts; thoughts are ideas or arrangements of ideas that result from thinking.

A thought may be an idea, an image, a sound or even an emotional feeling that arises from the brain. Then from the brain, those kind of misty streams rise up and lead out to a portal which heads to the astral plane.

What I was doing was akin to putting search words in my google bar and for it to come up with results for me. For example, emotions had colors– red was for anger, embarrassment, passion or lust. Blue denoted shyness, sadness or symbolizes cowardice, happiness, or caution. Green hints at disgust, envy, friendliness, or greed. Purple can indicate pride, fear, or courageousness. Grey signals depression, regular sadness, or stoicism. Black emanates coldness or mournfulness. Pink signals cheeriness, embarrassment, or love. White represents shock, fear, coldness.

There is a quote from Edgar Allan Poe that I found fitted well with what I was currently doing. "Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night." Doing the search by day would have been easier than night people who were asleep or fatigued were more difficult to make sense of.

What I saw was depressing; there was a lot of dull grey, green and purple in the mass of the thought streams I was seeing. Greed and envy, fear and depression in various shades. The world… no, humans made it so difficult to tolerate existence. However, amongst the mass of negativity streams, you also found positive ones. Like right now. I found it when I flew over Brighton Beach, the neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City's borough of Brooklyn because I was unable to find my potential ally near my building.

This thought stream was beautiful. It shifted in the purple of pride and courageousness, light grey for sadness, yellow for caution, red for passion and blue for calmness. It was a sign that this person lived with their head held high, even through the shit life threw at them. They seemed to have a horrible life from what I could pick up. I was led to a really bad part of New York where the street was unkempt, and there was the burned hull of a car in a spot that led to an alley. Deeper into it was some kind of discrete sign that lit up the darkness electrical blue, and under it was some kind of reinforced door. Not caring one iota about the obstacle, I stepped through it.I became witness to what I could only describe as decadence. There was a throng of men smoking and drinking under red lights, all seated in different booths. Girls of different ethnicity and age ranging from seventeen to twenty five strode in bikini tops and micro-skirts, wearing high heels and serving drinks and food. Russian music blared from the speakers which were placed at strategic points in the entire room.

As I didn't have any sense of smell right now, I was unable to describe the scent, and thank goodness for that; the pungent smoke alone would've made me choke. I shrugged, then followed the interesting stream to the back of the room where there was a kind of hidden door which I passed through. I wish I didn't.

The lewd moans and noise of flesh slapping flesh were what first clued me in that I've ended up in some sort of illegal brothel. "_What the fuck?"_

I continued to follow the stream, ignoring the half-opened doors where those girls were used by those pigs. Most of them didn't come here willingly, some even drugged to the gills to keep them from acting up. In my mind, I was already scheming on how to save them, and how I'd burn this place down and kill anyone linked to this _business_.

I went deep in this hidden level, the drab painted black walls and brown carpet covering the ground was barely enlightened though. There were stairs, and as I climbed them, the stream thickened and I sensed distress coming from it.

Going through the door, this time I ended up seeing another scene, I wished I didn't. On the bed before me were a man and woman going at it.

The man between the young woman's legs finally finished spending himself inside her. He kissed her, but I didn't see her react at all. The man had at least twenty years on her, looking pasty white with a bald head. He seemed heavy, too. Pushing himself off her, he went into the bathroom adjoined with the room. The young woman finally reacted, sitting up and looking at herself. She was beautiful. I couldn't guess at her ethnic heritage as her skin was a warm ivory, her eyes and hair a rich brown color. She was taller than I and in shape– the kind of body you attribute to a dancer.

Her face was heart shaped, a pert nose and refined cheekbones. She was a woman who belonged on magazine covers. I'd never felt this inadequate in my life, and I knew that I was beautiful, but her beauty was on a whole other level.

I watched her for a long moment as she gazed at her hands, and entered in deep introspection. I felt the distress and self-loathing she exuded; she didn't want to be here, she didn't want to let that man or any man touch her this way again. But she was powerless, a slave, and… The young woman suddenly looked at me as if she could see me.

We looked at each other for three seconds, and when she glanced at the bathroom door, I was reassured. Her gaze returned to me again, though. "You! What are you doing here?" She sputtered, attempting to cover her naked form with a pillow. Then she covered herself with a pillow.

I flinched and said dumbly, "_Wait, y-you can see me?"_

It shouldn't be possible. I am in astral form and she is a-

The woman glared at me. "Of course I can see you! Did Anton send you to _assist _me?"

I gaped at her forwardness. Meanwhile, feelings of worry, a sense of déja vu and a sense of familiarity gradually filled her as she took me in. She gathered her hair and styled it into a loose chignon. This Anton person didn't rate much in her memories.

"_No, I was looking for someone to help me."_

The statement seemed to have dislodged free a memory in her brain, and when I watched it unfold, I saw myself saying those same exact words. *What the hell?!*

The ivory skinned beauty left the bed, standing. She didn't try to reach for me and there were two expressions battling on her face: anger and relief. "You took your damn time!"

"Huh, what?" She unsettled me as what she thought and felt didn't make sense to me.

Her glare intensified. I didn't know why she felt so familiar with me, but it seemed that she would explain everything to me whether I wanted it or not. "I've been waiting for someone to come free me. I can see the future! One year ago, before Anton forced me into this place, you appeared to me in a vision."

I raised a hand, halting her speech. "_Okay, wait."_

What are the chances that I end up finding someone who seemed to have special eyes or some kind of clairvoyance power when I was looking for an ally?

*What's her name anyway?* As I thought the question, it revealed itself in my mind. Samira Khan, twenty five year old, school drop out, forced into prostitution by her uncle under some asshole called Anton Popov– the boss of this bordelo.

Samira neared, and her voice held a desperate tinge to it. "There's no need to wait. I will do anything to get free, please."

Her eyes held no tears; they must've dried long ago with everything that had been done to her,but my empathic ability sensed that she was on the verge, at least mentally. There was no way that I would leave her there. And I couldn't say no to such a beauty… down Jean! You have Cindy!

The teenage hormones finally calmed down when I stomped on them with my control, allowing me to think rationally. The fact that Samira had precog powers changed nothing; she was perfect for me. "_If you can see me it means you have powers, either you are like me or…"_ I thought aloud.

"My grandmother was a soothsayer, well respected in India." Samira interjected helpfully.

"_Okay, Magical lineage, got it. I am going to help you, and we will see what I can do for you."_

"Thanks, really thanks, this… has been a while since I felt hope; but… you are not really here?" She asked, plunging her hand in my astral form before retracting it. I felt nothing when she did it, strange. "_Don't worry, my abilities are versatile and powerful. I can manifest my powers from afar."_

Then Marvel chose this exact moment to interrupt us. The rapist exited the bathroom. "Sam, ləv (love) do you need to…"

Before he could finish his sentence, I broke his neck with my TK. With a sickening **crack,** the naked man fell heavily on the ground. I didn't anticipate my new friend's reaction though.

"Oh my god!" Samira shouted, jumping up in shock.

She took step backs until she fell on the bed, gazing at me with horror and fear. *Squeamish aren't we?*

"_1 of 34, the list is short for once."_ I nodded, still feeling how many men were left within the building. Samira stared at me, then at the man who had bought her service. She felt numb to my empathy, until her outburst. "Y-you killed him!"

I threw a derisive look her way. "_What did you think would happen?"_

"He was…" Samira was now remembering that he was the less worst of the lot. What he did to Smira was rape as she was an unwilling particapant. A bit of Stockholm syndrome had reared its head.

I choose to use the safest route to achieve my goal. Samira wanted to be free; she might fuck up the process, so I will have her contained. "_Samira, I will get you out of here. Though you may want to remain in this room while I go take care of everyone downstairs. You said that you'd do anything, but it seems that you don't want to dirty your hands."_

Samira stared at me like I was the devil who presented her with a tough choice. I snorted, *She will come to my way of thinking sooner or later.*

Her face held anguish until she balled her hands into fist, reaching the decision that she was powerless to change anyway. I had already decided to save the women. "Please at least spare the girls!" She blurted out.

I became somewhat offended that she thought that I was a murder hobo or something. "_Hey! I didn't intend to kill the women, all the men will be killed though, deal?" _Some feminist in my other self's world would have loved what I am about to do.

"Deal." Samira accepted, tired. She reached for a reason to want me to just scare them off, but then she remembered what she endured and couldn't find it within her to forgive any of them. Just like I thought.

And that's when she went into the bathroom so she could clean up and dress to get out of this place. We decided I would kill the guys in the other rooms first while she took charge of bringing the other women to safety with her inside this room.

Once dressed, I told her to let the girls enter the room after I compelled them to seek her out. She nodded with determination. I phased through the door and then went to work. The first room I entered, the guy was beating up the girl because she didn't react like he wanted. I killed him with a thought by crushing his head.

The girl screamed endlessly at the scene,but I forcefully calmed her down by pushing peaceful feelings to shift her mood. Then I compelled her to go to Samira in the room up the stairs. She grabbed her clothes, limping slightly as she departed. This routine followed in each room– some of the girls couldn't move by themselves because of either being too drugged or wounded, so I used my TK to transport them to the other room.

Ten minutes later, I had finished evacuating the girls from the room, and now I had to do the same for the waitresses. I focused on them, they were still working, even in the kitchen. I snapped the neck of the collaborator though; she was responsible for the bar and the food and also her mind was filth. One by one, the waitresses filed through the secret doors and I compelled them to go to Samira who must've been cramped in the room by now with all those women.

When everyone was safe, I blocked the secret bordello door with a table pushed against it, and stacked another on it. Turning towards the bar, the men filling up the booths asked aloud where the girls were. I blocked the door with my TK by overlaying a psionic shield over it; looked at the red lights illuminating the entire place and broke them all by staring at them.

"Kakogo cherta?! (What the hell?!)"

"Verni svet! (Bring back the lights!)"

"Gde devochki? (Where are the girls?)"

"Moy stakan pust! Vodka! Seychas zhe! (My glass is empty! Vodka! Now!)"

The more vocal men reacted badly with the lights going out. Though the last guy I heard made me laugh; he had problems with his priorities. Most of those men present were lieutenants, henchmen and right hands of the Russian mob; there were some Italian, Irish and South american representatives. I failed to care about them so they would die too.

Just in case I siphoned knowledge from their memories about their organizations, secrets and practices… and it sickened me to my core. Their fate was sealed.

There wasn't any loud noise when I lifted them all with my mind and began strangling them, some light scuffles and feet beating in the air. Some died of asphyxiation while those who struggled profusely broke their neck. I released them, crushing their skulls into paste when I double tapped them; you never know what might happen if one survived.

I had plans for Samira and now for the girls I've saved. This place must not be the only bordello in New York.

Floating toward the secret door, I atomized the stacked tables and passed through it, going to search for the girls. Samira turned toward me. Not only can she see me, but she also senses me.

"_It's done. Make them all go outside, by the way do you know the room where they kept all the money?"_

Samira looked around her. She didn't want to speak aloud and make the others think she is crazy. I sighed and said to her, "_Speak to me in your thoughts."_

Samira subtly nodded. **They keep the money in a room behind the kitchen. They count it and write in the ledger how much they earn each week. Then they store all the cash in bullet and flame resistant duffel bags to be collected and brought to the drop point.**

I frowned at that; this system was too elaborate for this operation to be the only place controlled by those guys. "_It seems all criminals have a streamlined process to launder money."_

There was something that Samira omitted but I decided to not push her too soon. I'd settle for confronting her when we were actually face to face. "_Get out of here and bring the girls with you. I will be by soon."_

Samira nodded, heading towards the open turned toward all the others and clapped, the more cognizant ones looked at her. I made them more susceptible to listen to Samira. "Girls follow me, everyone has been dealt with in the club. But please don't look at your feet when you walk out, okay?"

Most of the girls struggled to believe they were going to be free while some others could scarcely believe the situation, but some were full of hope that this nightmare could finally end.

"Dealt with?" A brunette asked, not daring to believe.

The blonde at the brunette's side understood instantly and asked with hope in her tone, "They've been killed?"

Samira gave her a firm nod. "Yes. A person I know decided to save us all. Those who were kidnapped will go home soon."

Everyone who knew Samira were aware that she was in highest demand and that some of the men offered to make her free but she had always refused. The girls, who knew how the system they were in worked, thought that Samira had slept with someone and asked him or her to save them all. I thought it was sad that they didn't expect that some good samaritan just wanted them to go free.

A girl, my age with pale blonde hair and in underwear whispered, "G-good riddance." Relief was clear in her stutter; her tormentors and rapists were all dead. Another girl raised her hand as though she was in school."Are we permitted to take our stuff?" She felt uncomfortable being nude before everyone.

Samira nodded. "Absolutely! But avoid taking too much, those who will stay with me and my friend will be sorted out."

Everyone in the room was practically naked or in underwear, even I couldn't begrudge them wanting to be decent; it was October and slightly chilly outside.

I turned to Samira, wondering how she knew what my intentions were. I didn't tell her anything about keeping the girls with us. "_How do you know about my plans? I don't even have something concrete yet, but I do intend to take responsibility for saving them."_

Samira's lips quirked into a smile, her long black dress swishing as she turned to me. **I saw a big apartment building in a vision when I worried about where I would be staying. It was old but well maintained and has thirty apartments.**

The smugness oozing from her gave me the epiphany that I could get headaches even in astral form. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I groaned with frustration. I could already hear Jessica laughing at me in my mind. "_So this is what it feels like when someone frustrates you by knowing stuff about your future."_

Samira's face stayed neutral but I could feel her amusement. **You must have had fun by confounding people with that mind reading.**

I rolled my eyes and floated off the ground. "_Yeah, yeah laugh. Something tells me you are worse. So let's go, we don't have a lot of time, and I need to burn this place when we are done."_

Shrugging, I disappeared through the door and descended to the club area, making my way to the kitchen. It was a clean place despite being that kind of establishment. I used my TK to discover where the money was stored, looking for inconsistencies or simply passed my head through the walls.

I finally found the place and was presented with four duffel bags on shelves. Searching for a safe in the walls and under the carpet, I found it in the wall behind the desk with the counting machine. With an effort of will, I took the safe from the wall that cracked and then began to dismantle the safe and- wow, there was a lot of money inside.

I turned, spotting more duffel bags. With a smile, I filled them with the money from the safe. From the ledger I found on the desk, I counted the money in the bags and the safe, to be about ten million. Millions that will serve me in housing the girls, cloth them and educating them. There was also the fact that I may find other girls, men or little kids who would need my help to get back on their feet.

Levitating all the duffel bags, I left the room by blasting a hole where the door was supposed to be and proceeded to exit the illegal bordello. The girls paled when they saw all the bags float in the air. Samira nodded at me, then the girls began asking questions to her.

After placing the duffel bags on the nearest isolated roof of an abandoned building, I got back to the girls and looked at the entire structure that housed the bordello and lit it on fire. The fire was so scalding, it would consume every crack and crevice.

Some of the girls watched with glee at the place burning, others cried, realizing that now they were free. I could empathize with them– if a man or interested party had tried to touch me this way or enslaved me mentally or by other means… burning them would be par for the course.

Looking at the flames, all we had to do now was wait for the authorities to arrive.

**# # #**

**October 29, 1996  
Grey penthouse  
03:45 PM**

School had been weird this morning. Peter was noticeably more mellow, Jessica and Patsy had a Chesire cat smile plastered to their face, and Gwen was more thoughtful than usual, looking wistfully at Peter. I tried not to meddle in their business but those two really needed to step up their game.

Gwen didn't care that he was spiderman and she told him that clearly at lunch, and she also told him that he should tell his aunt about his other identity before he was found dead and she learned the truth this way. He had tried to play it off as ridiculous and brush her off, but when we all stared at him with hardened, narrowed gazes, he caved under pressure, asking Gwen to come with him after school for the reveal.

Plus, I had added that my parents knew of my powers and were cool with them, so why was he unable to do the same? That was the mature thing to do.

After school, Cindy came home with me, intending to stay the night. We were about to create our costumes, a kunoichi one for me and a princess Kitana for Cindy. Hers was easier as she just needed a corset, thigh high boots, bracers and clingy leather pants. Mine would be made from scratch of course. I asked uncle Phil for help to get materials such as a leather sheet, cardboard, wood and fifteen steel rods and a lot of reinforced thread. Mom had bought me black leggings and a fishnet top.

We went into my room, and as I was about to close the door, Mom appeared, levelling me with a look. "Keep the door open, I wouldn't want you to get too _handsy_ with your girlfriend."

I gasped in indignation. "MOM!"

She gave me a saccharine smile. "What? I was young too…"

She also felt smug at showing off her bantering skills. Cindy giggled at my predicament, making me spin around and glare at her to which she gave me the most beautiful smile. Instantly, my heart melted, and I sighed heavily despite me.

When I turned back to Mom, she wore a knowing smile. "Fine, I will try to not get grabby with Cindy."

Her head bobbed as she made a slow nod. "That's all I can ask. I will grab you some snacks later." With those parting words, she left.

I walked back to Cindy and sat before her. She clutched a steel rod that she was examining. Then she looked up at me and said, "I like your mom, she's cool."

She wore a white strap top paired with black shorts. Her fashion sense was asian themed, making her look tomboyish and cute at the same time. I was a woman of simple tastes, or was it other-self who was? She was the one who infected me with her asian girl fetish.

From the black haired beauty, I felt some happiness for me and a bit of longing and envy. Cindy spoke sporadically of her parents, but the impression I got of them was that they neglected and pushed expectations too high on Cindy. I hugged her mentally, and when she fluttered her eyes shut in delight, she tried reciprocating it.

Since Cindy knew about my power, I had been constantly showing her how telepathy worked and she liked it. She never flinched when I spoke in her mind or mentally kissed or hugged her.

"I love her too." I finally answered.

Cindy smiled awkwardly and tried to say something, anything. "So…"

This was the first time we were left completely alone, without supervision; we had dates in public spaces or hung out at school. This felt more private, and I'm not gonna lie, I liked it.

I could see myself sharing my life with Cindy; telepathy and empathy gave me a window into her soul that considerably lowered the amount of time it would take to get to know her and divine what I should do. She was fun as a friend, loyal, funny and pleasant. The possessiveness I felt in her was merely something ephemeral that was engendered by the stressful control her parents and her mother in particular exerted on her life.

Cindy thought what we had was precious but fragile and she didn't suffer any people disrupting our relationship, that was why she didn't like Gwen or anyone male trying to accost me; the little asian knew that I was bisexual.

"Before we start, I have an offer for you, Cindy." I had pondered over this long and hard, and it was time Cindy knew of the offer that was on the table. She looked at me and cocked her head. "Oh?"

A long moment of silence passed before I spoke. "Do you want to establish a telepathic link between us two?"

Cindy frowned, a bit uncertain. "Hmm, what would it entail?"

I smiled at her and began to explain what a telepathic link between us would permit us to do. It was basically the power to link minds between two living beings, making them able to share thoughts, memories, emotions or feelings.

Cindy's eyes bugged out, her shoulders tensing before she lowered them and mumbled. "This… this is a big step."

I knew that, but I wanted to just let her know that this option is available to us. I nodded, "Don't worry. I will wait, babe. I know it's early but I like what I see and feel from you. I don't want to have secrets or walls between us. But, there's no hurry."

Finally her shoulders fully relaxed. She wasn't ready for this; at least not yet, it wasn't a fear of commitment. But it was akin to what Jessica felt about my powers, it was about the sanctity of her mind. I respected my friends too much to force a telepathic link onto them, but just to tempt Cindy further I added, "Though it would permit us to discuss over a long distance and permit us to locate each other."

She felt torn and I smiled at her. Then, I felt a familiar mind nearing the building. It was Phil, and he was surely bringing back the materials I had asked him. I floated the tools I would use to make my costumes from my closet whose door opened and a tool case came flying and settled between me and Cindy. It was five minutes later that uncle Phil arrived with two other agents loaded with most of the things I asked.

"Jean, good afternoon." Phil stepped into my bedroom, looking first at me, then through the window and different sides of the room. "Cindy." The agent nodded at my girlfriend.

Cindy waved at Phil who removed his shades to place them in his breast pocket. He shot us a tight smile while the two agents put the two wooden boxes full of materials on the carpet. The steel bars and the leather rolls were poking out the box. As I catalogued mentally the contents of the boxes with my awareness, I discovered it contained extra things like nails or a pneumatic stapler.

I didn't comment on that and preferred to offer some platitude, "Uncle Phil, I'm sorry you had to do such a menial task but…"

Phil put his hand on my arm. "It's alright, you don't want to go everywhere under escort."

I chuckled darkly. "Yeah, I don't like standing out."

I hated it. People from school constantly asked me if I was wealthy, and if I didn't put my resting bitch face on, they would keep doing it. The kicker had been Harry Osborn asking me how much my parents earned with a smug smile while having Mary Jane glare at me, clutching desperately on his arm. The smug little shit accosted me so that he could replace a redhead for another by throwing enough money to change my _preferences_.

*For that, I will kill you later Osborn.* I thought in my heart. I had always intended to destroy and kill those goblin fuckers. Peter is my friend and he didn't need to deal with that particular brand of evil.

Phil shook his head and gave me a commiserating smile. "I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Jean. But you failed."

_Hmph_. "It doesn't matter."

The pneumatic stapler and the electric drill floated out of the boxes thanks to my TK. I lifted my chin and asked Phil, "Do you know how to handle those tools you added in the boxes?"

The agent smiled. "I do."

I clapped. "Awesome, please could you help us uncle Phil?"

Phil didn't even think about it and took his jacket off, threw it on my bed and then loosened his black tie. "Girls, let's get to it."

My telekinesis was key to most of the process of making a short sword like other self showed me. I took a steel bar and melted it, then using my mind I dissipated the temperature outside the window, making sure to shield Phil and Cindy from it. In a bubble shield I started the process of tempering as there was almost no impurities in the metal. I used the carbon dioxide in the air and transmuted some scrap of steel into iron, then turned it into iron sand. The process of forging took another five minutes.

Transmutation was a recent ability I discovered I possessed, which also was dependent on my knowledge of the periodic table. The short sword, a dull grey, took form. I didn't need something that would last; I just wanted a cheap sword to go with my costume. And that's what I got, it was a cheap blade compared to what I saw the hand ninjas had. The real work would be making the dull blade, sheath, and hilt as beautiful as I could.

Meanwhile, Phil was occupied with helping Cindy with the crafting of her bracers made of black leather. It was heartwarming to see her struggle with the tape measure.

I finished crafting a sheath for my short sword. It wasn't fairly easy to dye the wood and cover and seal it with ornate steel decorations. The cheap sword was complete, it was hard and blunt enough to serve as an icepick. Then I began working on the kunai belt and the disposable throwing one. This was hard as it was a mess of leather strips and metallic threads and staples but it looked rugged. The mask and bracers were easier to craft, thankfully.

Cindy finished before me, and lorded it over me; but my costume was more elaborated. Phil helped me with the metal plate for the armored pieces, it was seven pm when we were finally done. I don't know where Phil found our mannequins which he placed our costume on but I thanked him with another of my family specialties that I'd baked early this morning before school and gave mom the responsibility to take care of: a Tiramisu cake for after dinner.

**# # #**

**October 31, 1996  
Osborn estate  
09:20 PM**

Today was the day where everything I had set up for the last two days was going to happen, and I was nervous until I saw Gwen disguised as an elf, a petite and cute one; and Peter was Gandalf, his costume not as complicated as mine. Gwen should've opted to go as a fairy because it went better with her stature. Jessica and Patsy were disguised as witches– sexy witches to be accurate. They had on those cute pointy hats, short black dresses, thigh high sock and pointy boots and even crafted their own brooms.

When I saw Cindy, in her Princess Kitana, I was a goner, drooling. We almost didn't go to the party as how could I let her out like this? She was so… fuckabl- I mean sexy! When she opened her fans and danced with it, I became mesmerized by the scene. I was well aware of my friends snickering in the background but I couldn't find it in me to care. We stood outside Cindy's apartment block when she exited and my eyes were glued on her. A lot of lewd thoughts and acts came into mind, but I felt that it wasn't possible to do those yet, shit.

Cindy stopped dancing, then laughed wryly at me. "So… finished looking?"

Shaking my head, my eyes still stuck on her, I answered, "No, I could do this all day, but I will stop if you want me to."

She wrapped her fingers around my arm and pulled me toward the fleet of SUV that would bring us to the location of the party. Cindy looked back for an instant and added, "For now at least."

When we climbed into the car, I passed the time smooching with Cindy; we had our own vehicle and the others understood that I needed some alone time with her. It seemed Cindy liked my own costume as she repeated that I was 'super hot' a lot in her mind.

When we arrived, we had to refresh our makeup. We stepped out of the vehicle and saw there were a lot of people already entering the gate of a sprawling mansion. Honestly, it looked like a castle with its grey walls and black roof; through my spatial sense I guessed that it covered a large area.

I included the garden which seemed like a total bother to keep maintained well. The castle-like manor had many windows and I felt that there were a lot of security people deployed around it. Pulling me out of my analytic fugue, Cindy pulled me through the gates where Gwen and the others waited for us on the entrance porch.

The sun declined in the background, while we waited for someone to open the door. Glancing down at my costume again, I took inventory. My corset was white with a clasp, a fishnet of the same colour over it, paired with a tattered black scarf, leather bracers and leather metal pauldrons combo. My legs were clad in simple black leggings that were like second skin and thigh high boots with armored knee armor pieces. My leather belt was refined in the last two days, looking like the work of a professional. A majordomo opened the door, he looked in his fifties. We gave our names and showed some ID to enter. Fortunately, Flash had told us about that and we presented our student IDs. We entered the Osborn lair with trepidation and were led to a... ballroom? Norman had a Ballroom?!

It was spacious, and decorated in a very eerie sort of way. There were scary carved pumpkins everywhere with lit candles inside them. Red-orange banners with 'Happy Halloween' written on them framed the walls. There were buffet tables at the left and right of the room loaded with food and non-alcoholic beverages.

Nightwish music blared from the speakers placed in the DJ platform at the other end of the ballroom. People were already busting out moves to "_Over The Hills And Far Away_" while others shook their heads back and forth as if they were into a pogo. The DJ seemed to really like the old stuff, because as the song finished it faded away and switched seamlessly to "_Holy Diver_" from Dio.

Gwen grasped Peter's hand, pulling him toward the table with all the various canapes. The little blonde pixie had only come for the food and the dancing. The Jones sisters went on to dance, needing to bleed away all the excitement coursing through them. There were some people I recognized in the crowd because like at school instead of mingling they had separated in clique. The cheerleader squad wore different kinds of outfits, ranging from catgirls to disney princesses. The goths were all vampires or witches, the geeks… they showed diversity, some were disguised as Mario and Luigi, Link, and there was a cute blonde geeky girl who was out as Princess Zelda.

This was taking me back. Without noticing, Cindy had brought me to the drink table where there was a non-alcoholic punch fountain, different kinds of sodas and root beer. There were also many pepsi bottles which pissed me off. No wonder the Osborns were crazy, they are philistine! Heretics! I could tolerate Jessica, as she was my best friend, but I would be sure to add this sin on the growing list of why the Osborn family must be killed.

I flinched when I felt someone with a rancide and twisted mind coming toward Cindy and I, with someone familiar at his side. Harry Osborn and Mary Jane were the first I've seen that were coming up toward me, and I wasn't surprised to see Norman Osborn with my operative, Samira Khan, on his arm.

The man looked just like Willem Dafoe. I shouldn't have been surprised, Harry looked a tad like James Franco but with a blend of Willem. Was it this dimension trying to fit my expectation with my knowledge or was it just coincidence?

"Hey, Grey! You came!" Harry waved a hand at me. He was disguised as an Arabian Prince whereas Mary Jane took on the persona of Princess Jasmine.

Harry blatantly ignored Cindy. I waved at him with a fake smile. "Hello, I like what you did with the place." I indicated at the decor with a hand, to which he shot me a smug smile for.

My arm snaked around my girlfriend's waist and I projected feelings of love and caring into her. I didn't want to let her think that I was going to ignore her too. I knew she received the message when she leaned into me. I felt how the action pissed off Harry which brought a genuine smile to my face this time. "Thanks! Dad went all out. By the way, this is he, Norman Osborn." Harry stepped to the side to let his dad and Samira step toward me.

If this man wasn't Norman Osborn, I might have liked him. His smile was wide and he oozed charisma. Willem Dafoe had been one of my other self's favorite actors, because he lent his face and voice acted in "_Beyond Two Souls_" the video game on PS3 in her world. But my other-self knew the guy before us was pure evil, even in his sane days and I trusted that self as much as I did my parents.

"I heard so much about you from Harry, he… didn't understate how beautiful you were." I felt Norman's eyes slide all over me and it evoked a slight shudder from me. He held out a hand before me and I masked my disgust as I took it.

Samira, standing at his side, reciprocated my disgust for the act and also hid it. I regretted involving her in my plot if she had to be with that guy all the time. But I didn't spend a day brainwashing everyone Norman knew to insert Samira in their lives for nothing.

I inclined my head slowly. "It's an honor to meet you sir."

Norman retracted his hand, smiling. "Harry said that you were some kind of science whiz. You know, I'm something of a scientist myself."

Looking carefully at him in his Dracula costume, I quickly recognized the quotes from the first spiderman movie. It was an occasion to troll him! I was good enough to feign admiration. "You wouldn't be where you are if you weren't, sir. I read all your research on nanotechnology. Brilliant."

Norman raised an eyebrow, a spark of interest sparkling in his eyes. "You understood it?"

*If you knew Normie… I have so many plans involving that tech.*

I grinned. "Of course, the only things limiting us to achieving this milestone are computing power and energy generation, Mister Osborn. Can you imagine what we would be able to do with that technology? Building new materials only seen in science fiction, or adapting this tech into our medical science? There would be no HIV, cancer would be something of the past and genetic defects nonexistent."

*Producing nano-plagues or nano-drones able to see and hear everything their host does.* I didn't say that aloud, not wanting to give him any ideas. My gaze briefly slid to Harry who looked wounded that his father had taken such an interest in me in barely two sentences. His little heart screamed 'notice me too daddy,' which was actually really sad to see. Though it didn't detract me from my decision from killing father and son, I still felt for him.

Norman's smile was dashing."Impressive. You can already guess the sociocultural ramification that introducing such technology would bring. You have beauty and brains, Miss Grey. Your parents must be very proud of you Miss Grey."

I put a genuine smile on my face. "I do my best to give back all the support they give me."

"What a good daughter." Norman whispered, glaring slightly at Harry who lowered his eyes shamefully. The boy was saved by the fact that Samira placed a hand on Norman's elbow.

The businessman's face lit up as he looked at Samira. "Ah, sorry I forgot, darling. Miss Grey this is Talia Al'Gul, my girlfriend."

Samira gave me a blinding smile. "Enchanted."

I nodded. "Same, you look fantastic in this purple sari."

Watching Norman, I noticed he was smitten. He hadn't felt this feeling since the death of his wife; the man has been getting a new lease on life. He had no idea that I was the one manipulating his emotions and programmed him to love Samira and provide her with what she wanted. This is what I'd been up to in the last two days, besides making sure all the rescued women were safe.

All thanks to the money I'd hid in Harlem plus the stolen funds from the Russian bordello that I've rescued the girls from. I was the co-owner of a woman shelter located in an old apartment building in Queens able to house sixty people that Samira had secured instantly after the police released her and the girls who had nowhere to go. Some of them had gone back to their families who were happy with their return and provided help. Others had decided to strike out alone but were given cards with Samira's phone number if things did get too tough or if they were in danger.

It was progress, but we had to do more. So for my next operation I decided to tie up some loose ends and protect Peter and Gwen from the machinations of Osborn who would get too interested in spiderman. I could already see what he had planned for Peter if he ever caught him.

*Really? Human experimentation, Norm? Can't say it shocks me.* It was just like I expected.

Samira plastered a smile on her face, her expression full of fondness as she watched Morman. "Norm provided it."

**Damn girl, you should be winning Oscars.** I spoke into her mind. She was able to express herself naturally, to play roles.

I could feel the smouldering waves of smugness rolling off of her. My gaze then fell onto Norman who I decided to compliment. "You know how to treat a lady, Mister Osborn."

Norman smiled, straightening his spine, clearly pleased with the appraisal. *Bastard.*

The sound of a phone ringing was heard, and Nomran took his out of his dracula outfit pocket and looked at the screen.

"I am sorry, I must take this." He said, turning to leave.

Mary Jane placed her hand on Harry's shoulder, who looked disappointed. She stared at me but I ignored her. I wasn't in the mood for the social games with this trash Princess.

Samira stayed with us, looking at Cindy with interest. Cindy returned the interest, not sexual fortunately, but it was like admiring a beautiful painting.

"Who is the lovely lady at your side?" Samira asked with a smile in her voice.

**Who is she to you, Jean? Don't keep me in the dark.** Samira projected her thoughts loudly to me.

I rolled my eyes. Samira had been curious about me and my abilities;it was like she lived vicariously through me. "My girlfriend, her name is Cindy. Sorry if she's silent, she's a bit intimidated."

Cindy slapped my arm playfully. "No I'm not." Then her gaze slid over Samira again. "She's just… I mean, did you look at her?"

I was already used to looking at Samira. The woman had no modesty left anymore, as she pranced in her new condo that she bought with my money completely nude. "Yes, Cin. She's easily a ten."

Smiling, Samira advanced toward the girls and patted their shoulders. "Girls, don't worry, when you are out of your teenage years, I am sure you'll be just like me. Beauty is mostly taking care of your health and how you carry yourself."

Mulling over what she said, I nodded. "Nice advice, I am happy that I already have good habits of eating healthy and doing martial arts then."

Harry's eyes showed his skepticism as he spoke,"Wow Grey, you are a martial artist?" I almost forgot that the little bastard was there. "Yep." I clipped, not bothering to elaborate. Then, I sized him up from top to bottom."It also counts for guys too, you know, Osborn. MJ also works hard to stay in shape."

Harry wasn't at his physical peak, he was tall and gangly and I was certain that if he wasn't rich, the redhead clinging to his arm wouldn't give him the time of day. Speaking of Mary Jane Watson, she decided to participate in the conversation. "Hum yes… I am a cheerleader, we have to be in top form physically to stay on the team. The coach put us on a special diet to develop our muscles and gave us exercises to be agile and bendy."

I saw her on the football field and in the gymnasium, she is indeed... _flexible _enough for all the figures the school does.

"Not just a cheerleader MJ, you are the vice-captain!" Harry added, throwing an arm around her shoulders.

MJ preened. "Yes, I am."

The music changed from rock to a slow song more suited for couple dancing. Cindy and I looked at each other at the same time, smiling."Time for some dancing, Princess Kitana."

I waved at Harry and MJ as Cindy pulled me to the dance floor. We danced on a Shania Twain song called "_From this moment on_" for three minutes or so. Then it suddenly passed to a younger generation of singers like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. After dancing till our legs ached we went for some drinks. While eating and drinking, Cindy poked me in the side and indicated to where Patsy was, dancing with a boy too old for her. I didn't go there to stop it; we taught her how to take care of herself. As for Jessica, she stood near her sister, dancing with one of the football jocks, a black guy who was all muscle, who was disguised as Captain America.

"You know, they can take care of themselves." I spoke, leaning against a wall. Cindy mimicked me and filled my plastic cup with one of the bottles of water available.

Cindy smiled patronizingly at me. "Yes, but it doesn't cost us anything to keep an eye on them. They would do the same for us."

She had a point, "I guess you are right..."

"That's going to happen a lot in our relationship." Cindy laughed and leaned against me.

I kissed her cheek and seductively whispered into her ear, "Say, are you going to come home with me?"

I didn't imply that I wanted to sleep with her, this was too fast; but having her in my arms when I woke up? It'd be pure bliss.

"Aren't we moving too fast, Jean?" Cindy mumbled, lowering her eyes. Her flushed cheeks were visible even under the low light environment of the ballroom.

It was cute. I replied with all the certainty of knowing myself and my inner desires, "Cin, I know what I want, and I want you."

It's another thing that meditation brought me; I focused on myself and entered into deep introspection often.

She looked into my eyes, and must've found what she was searching for, as a chuckle left her. Her arm went around my waist, and she leaned in, huskily whispering, "I like that you can just look at me and say what you think, you don't play games. You are not trying to control me or tell me what to do."

"I would never do that to you, I respect you too much." I delicately caressed her cheek and kissed her full on the mouth, she opened her mouth and our tongues duelled for a minute or two.

We came back for air, and Cindy smiled while I continued to be distracted by her cuteness. "It's not just your body I like." Cindy was stunning, but what also attracted me the most was her energy, her mind, her thought process and how obsessed she was with hockey and science.

She glued herself to me, looking earnestly into my eyes. "I can say the same for you. I'm not gonna lie, at first it was just that. I mean you are a really beautiful girl, but now I know there's more to you, Jean."

"You kind of caught my attention when you pulled me in the girl's toilet to kiss the hell out of me too, huh. But whatever magic spell you put on me, Cin, I just like passing time with you. I know... we are in a sort of testing phase for now. But I want to be with you more, know more about you."

"We have all the time in the world." With that, she grabbed my hand and pulled me back to the dance floor where we busted out some moves to some Spice Girls song whose title I forgot.

Parties were not so bad. We mostly danced, drank and fed on the free food; and the buffet kept getting fancier with the caterers delivering slowly on the table's new dishes. The party stretched well past midnight and came to an end when the DJ thanked everyone for coming and that souvenirs would be distributed at the mansion's exit.

"Damn, this Halloween party was awesome!"

"Hell yeah!"

"The DJ diversified the music genres to include everyone's tastes, rap, r&b, rock… it was a pro I think."

My friend had a really good time it seems. We were about to leave the ballroom when Harry stopped us. He was all smiles. "Thanks for coming Grey, I hope you had fun! Your friends too."

"It was a good party, my first actually." The statement was true as I had never been invited to a party that wasn't made for family.

Harry's smile fell, his gaze shooting to my friend's to figure out if I was joking."You're kidding right?"

He thought it weird that a gorgeous girl like me had never gone to a party but I was a loner before high school and had a serious case of misanthropy.

"Nope, thanks Harry." I held my hand to him.

Harry smiled and shook it. I used this brief contact to forge a minor telepathic bond that I intend to use for the second phase of my plan to destroy the Osborns. Just like that, my dominoes were all in place and I was about to kick a hornet nest.

"Goodbye."

**# # # **

**(Harry Osborn)**

**November 1st, 1996  
Osborn Mansion  
07:01 AM**

Friday was All Saints' Day, and Harry jolted up from his bed, sweating and panting from his nightmare. His bedroom was dark, but when he clapped his hands, everything was illuminated. The tastefully decorated white ceiling had lights placed strategically to distribute as much light as possible, not letting any spot of darkness in the room.

Harry stripped out his t-shirt, leaving his boxers and slippers on. The room was tastefully furnished. There was a desk with the latest generation of computers placed at the end of the room opposite the bed, a walk-in closet and expensive white and blue carpets on the marble tiles.

The blue walls were loaded with posters of models between the wooden shelves showing trophies for sports such as tennis or badminton, cycling and other activities. To his misfortune Harry had never received any acknowledgment from his dad for his triumphs. Their relationship was strained as Norman believed Harry didn't apply himself enough. But to Harry, science was just not his thing. He remembered how idiotic he felt last night when Jean Grey spoke with his father. It was as though they were speaking in chinese, and he couldn't follow. Nanotechnology? All he knew about it was that it was manipulation of matter on a molecular level and nothing much. His father would get on his case for not knowing the family business that he would inherit later. He walked up to the window, the sun wasn't up yet. His thoughts were churning.

"But I don't want the fucking company!" Harry raged, bashing his fist against the metal window frame.

**Then what do you want?** A voice whispered.

Harry turned and looked into his room. "Who is there?!"

He couldn't decipher whether the voice belonged to a male or female. "Hello?"

"I-it must be nothing." He stuttered, a pathetic way to make him feel at ease.

There were mirrors at each side of his bed and when he neared them, he noticed his reflection smiling back at him. He stopped, moved his hand and saw his reflection didn't follow the movement, his smirk growing bigger. **Hello Harry.** It was his voice! It was his reflection! But it was completely different from how he carried himself.

Harry demanded loudly, "The fuck are you?!"

**Tut-tut-tut, don't play innocent Harry, you know who I am.** His double sneered at him.

"N-no, I don't." He took a step back, and his heartbeat skyrocketed when he saw his double step out the mirror.

Evil Harry pointed his fingers at the original. **Did you think you could escape from yourself? I have always been with you. Even when you were crying yourself to sleep when daddy wouldn't come home to take care of your sorry ass.**

Harry's face darkened as he heard his evil twin belittle him. "Fuck you! You know nothing about me!"

Evil Harry pushed him on the bed. **Of course I do! I even know what you want, every single time something isn't going your way.**

His double was on Harry as he was about to stand from the bed. Evil Harry lifted him from it with a hand on his neck. **I want to do what you can't, I want to say what you want, To remove those in your way. Like that fucking indian whore who is suckling on our dad.**

Harry beat on his double's arm, kicking him, but all his attempts were in vain. "Fuck you! I'm not…"

Evil Harry's expression became stone cold, showing a disappointed expression.** Maybe Norman is right, you are too fucking useless to do what needs to be done.** Releasing him, Evil Harry returned to the mirror, cackling loudly at the little boy in his bed.

At that, Harry looked back at the mirror with fury and stomped toward the reflective surface and punched it, realizing too late that his reflection had stopped acting weirdly. The glass shattered, shards flying everywhere, falling to the ground, along with the blood dripping from Harry's hand.

"Shit."

**# # #**

"So boy, why did you break the mirror? Do you have any image issues I should be made aware of?" Norman pressed, seated on a black leather sofa, holding a coffee mug. Harry faced him, not making eye contact. The majordomo had called their family doctor who had ignored his practice to take the mirror shards out of the young man's knuckles. For Harry, it had been painful and somewhat humiliating. "No, Dad."

Talia was sitting at Norman's side. Her gaze skated between father and son, looking a bit lost. "Norman, maybe I shouldn't be here. It seems rather personal…"

The older Osborn turned to the half indian beauty and put a hand on her thigh. She was wearing a tight white dress that would put any man aflame. Harry was attracted to her, but he considered her to be a hindrance and a gold digger having taken more and more of his dad's time.

Norman gave her a warm smile, and patted her thigh. "Nonsense, Talia. You are going to be the woman of the family, and being able to communicate with Harry and know what troubles him is going to be one of your tasks. You are already part of the family, dear. You aren't an intruder."

Harry's eyebrows shot up to his forehead once his father's words sunk in. "Wait, wait, wait? What do you mean dad?"

"Oh, I wanted to tell you over breakfast but you had to hurt yourself with your mirror. Talia has agreed to marry me."

**You see, you are nothing to him.** Evil Harry whispered into his mind.

Harry's left hand tightened into a fist, glaring icily at the woman. His hatred burned and if looks could kill, Talia would be dead. Talia looked at the young man with what could be called a neutral expression. Harry couldn't guess what she thought. He barely tolerated her since she invited herself into their lives a year ago and…

Harry frowned, it was weird. He didn't remember exactly when she appeared! Memories flooded into his brain, and his confusion slipped away as the memories flooded in. He now recalled how she had been seeing his dad in secret. It seemed his father liked them young. Harry remembered how he basically hit on Jean when she had her girlfriend on her arm.

The young Osborn looked at his father with utter disgust. "Congratulations, _father_. Talia."

"Thanks, boy." Norman gave him a tight smile that failed to reach his eyes when he noticed that Harry wasn't calling him dad anymore.

**# # #**

**He has forsaken you.** Evil Harry appeared instantly once the young Osborn arrived in his bedroom.

"Shut up." Harry sprawled across his bed, placing his hands over his ears. Evil Harry looked furious as he ranted. **It's clear that he has already written you off, He will marry her and make another son. One smarter and more _pliant_ than you.**

"SHUT UP!" Blood lust rose from Harry as he jumped off his bed, staring straight at his evil double who didn't look happy either.

**You know I am right, you saw it in his eyes.**

Harry stiffened. Norman's indifferent gaze had shocked Harry. He sat on his bed and began his introspective reflection. His dad had changed after his mother died, neglecting his fatherly duties and burying himself in his work. As the years passed by, Harry noticed how Norman became a ruthless, ambitious, paranoid, troubled and disturbed man.

His dad was extremely smart and intelligent, skilled in mathematics and science, possessing an immense knowledge of chemistry and the side-effects of drugs on humans and animals. Then suddenly, he became obsessed with his legacy and focused entirely on Harry for a period of time, attempting to make him a replica of himself. He had even forced him to attend Midtown High, a science focused school.

Harry's talent laid in the physical side, he was mildly smart but not a genius like his dad. Norman had been forcing Harry to be more studious and tried to have him tutored in science but it was futile; Harry would never be more than passably knowledgeable in the fields that his dad mastered. Since then, Harry's father made him feel that he was no good, a failure.

**Yes, to him you are a failure.** Harry's mind and emotion subtly shifted as his evil twin whispered his acquiescence.

"What should I do? I-I don't want to be irrelevant! I tried! I really tried to be worthy! To make him love me!" Harry stood up from his bed and began to pace on the carpet, his hand behind his back for a minute before his evil twin appeared with a devilish smile. His eyes glimmered with promises that screamed trouble.

**It's easy. Take your gun and kill the bitch.** Evil Harry looked deadly serious.

He owned a weapon. He had stolen it from the security command center purely because he thought it'd be fun. He'd something that he had stolen from the security command center because it had looked fun at first and he had kept it in his closet, hidden in a strongbox.

Harry stood there, paralyzed by this horrible advice. "No, no, no, no, no!" He repeated, shaking his head frantically, his facial trait taking on a vehement expression.

**Why not?**

"It's wrong! WRONG!" Harry bellowed, panting from ehaustion because of all the high emotions running high within him.

Evil Harry shrugged his shoulders, staring remorselessly into his eyes. **So? Dad did worse, remember?**

Harry squeezed his eyes close. He was right, he knew how his dad did _business_… It was a year ago when Harry witnessed his dad killing a man for his research, then ordering security to get rid of the body. Harry's emotion shifted again, *Why do I seek to be loved by that monster?*

**Yes, why?** Evil Harry laughed like a demon.

**# # #**

**07:02 PM  
Norman's study**

Harry stood before the door in his a black shirt over a white cotton T-shirt with ripped blue jeans. He no longer cared about the dress code his father had imposed upon him. He knocked and waited. He'd been thinking of speaking with his father and asking him more about this marriage he was planning to go through with. At his side, his evil double waited with a nonchalant smile for the discussion to happen. When he heard a bit of a scuffle and two voices in the room, he frowned. Evil Harry chuckled. **They were fucking.**

After another minute and knocking, Harry heard the commanding voice of his father, "Enter."

Harry's face darkened, and he slowly opened the door. No wonder his father had no time for him lately if he kept getting distracted by his new squeeze!

**You already lost him a long time ago, Harrykin.** Evil Harry whispered.

His emotions shifting, Harry remembered the neglect and the cry for attention for his last family member, all ignored. "Right, I did, didn't I?"

"Good evening, father."

Norman, who sat behind his desk wore a dark business suit with a red tie that looked ruffled Talia also looked unkempt, her face flushed and her white sari looking wrinkled from being put on hastily. She stood at Norman's side as if it had always been her place.

Harry frowned at her. She didn't even acknowledge him, kissed Norman on the cheek, whispering something in his ear and began to leave. As she walked up to Harry, she nodded at him and exited the study. The lingering scent of her jasmine perfume filled the room and her absence was a loud statement.

Norman looked irritated as he spoke. "Son? You couldn't have come at a more… inopportune time."

_Snort_. "Really, is that all you have to say?" He scoffed, looking derisively at his father with a mocking smile.

Norman's eyes widened, then his expression slackened and with a neutral but threatening tone said to his son, "Harry, don't take that tone with me."

Harry laughed. "I would listen to you, if you deserved it father."

Norman was shocked. He'd expected his son to cower at his expression and say something to try to please him but Harry didn't move an inch, holding his stare in defiance. "Harry? Boy, what's got into you?"

Harry cackled. "What's got into me father? I AM TIRED." He didn't shout or throw a tantrum, just expressed how he felt for over ten years since his mother died.

Norman's shocked expression remained, and the expression of utter disdain and disinterest on his face shouldn't be there. He had wanted his son to become stronger, independent and less cowardly, but disrespecting and uncaring toward his own family member? No!

Harry's gun behind his back burned a hole in his belt. "I am tired of you pushing your expectations onto me! I-I want to stop, it's not worth it anymore. I wanted my dad back but instead all that's left of him is that evil guy in his skin. I am done waiting for you to stop your bullshit."

Confiding in his own father about what he thought about him, Harry didn't know the effect it was having on his father. Harry was about to turn to leave when his father raised his hand making him stop.

Norman passed his hand in his hair, leaned in his office chair and tried to explain. "It may seem this way, but I want what's best for you Harry. I wanted you to be able to take my place."

"Then why force me to go to a school that I don't care for? I don't want your company, it's not worth the trouble it would bring." Harry had friends in his previous school, real friends. At Midtown High, he had to bribe the jocks so they wouldn't bully him at the start. Even to obtain Mary Jane's affection, he had to break out his black credit card and slave away while shopping. At least he had fucked the little redheaded trollop.

"Harry, I was dying." Norman announced.

"What?!"

"Retroviral Hypodysplasia, a rare, genetic, incurable disease. Our family curse. I tried very hard to find a cure for it. I thought I did when I… when I created the culmination of all my research." Norman opened a drawer, retrieved a folder full of papers, and placed it on the desk.

Opening the folder, Norman showed pictures of people with deformities varying from nails turning to narrow dirty claws to canines lengthening to resemble fangs and greenish skin. Harry looked from the pictures to his father. Then he took the folder and began to read the complete file. It was ten minutes later when he threw the folder on Norman's desk.

With suspicion, Harry looked at his father. "Why aren't you…"

Sighing heavily, Norman rose from his chair and walked up to the portrait of his late wife, Harry's mother, Emily Lyman. Harry's father pushed the golden plaque under the portrait of Emily and the painting slid aside revealing a silvery metal safe. He punched in a code on the keyboard, and placed his thumbs on the fingerprint reader. The safe opened with a hiss.

Plunging his hand in the safe, Norman extracted a covered vial that contained a greenish liquid. "This is the Oz Serum. It is a biogenic chemical compound developed by Dr. Mendel Stromm and his assistant Dr. Nels van Adder. It's able to augment the human body similarly to the Super-Soldier Serum."

Norman put the vial on his desk and stared at his son, beaming. His eyes held an insane glint to them. "This serum has cured me! The curse of our family no longer plagued me! It was exhilarating, son! I WAS FREE! The Oz Serum has made me stronger, smarter and faster! A superman! But... the formula was imperfect."

Evil Harry shook his head. There's always a catch, Dad, those type of things must have side effects.

Real Harry heard that and looked at his dad with distress. "There were side effects?"

"Yes." Norman simply looked apathetically at his son.

"What are they, father?" Harry asked, his face a blank canvas now, mirroring his fathers. As if he was explaining this to a child, Norman began to dessert."The formula is unstable, the process rendered the test subjects insanely violent and aggressive. It also induces dissociative identity disorder_. _With bouts of psychotic urges manifested as a new... identity."

All of a sudden, Harry felt unsafe, but he masked his fear. "You are cured, right?"

Norman chuckled. "Cured? I am not. I live with the _goblin _in my head, and this time I am in control of my body. He has a particular soft pot for Talia and is in love with her."

Harry's emotions raged inside him, he was lost between pitying his father and anger for not telling him about his condition. "Wait! FATHER, why have you never told me about this? Is it recent? Is…" *Is it because of this serum you neglected me?* Harry asked in his heart.

Norman squinted his eyes, noticing his son's strange behaviour. He'd become twitchy, unfocused and his eyes held the same insane glint in his own that he'd been seeing in the mirror every morning since his goblin persona awakened. "Son, it's… I injected myself with it six months ago."

Harry's emotions completely shifted, raw and darker emotions such as rage, hatred and fear found themselves amplified. "I see. Do you think it makes it okay what you have been doing to me?" Harry took the gun from behind his back, cocked it and pointed it at Norman in one movement.

Norman raised his hands, his face soaked in shock."Harry. Listen, boy. You don't want to do this."

Harry's palms felt sweaty, his heart thrashing violently in his chest, begging to be let out. "Give me a reason, anything… please. I… you are a monster father, and I feel- no I know that I am becoming one too. I feel… that I should have joined mom. Maybe that's why she faked her death."

It was as if Norman's world sank around him at this revelation. Everything he had done was suddenly put in perspective. "She what?!" He continued on, basking in pride that he'd finally broken the calm facade his father usually had on. "Oh you didn't know? Mom had begged me to come with her, but I pitied you, I loved you dad. I thought how unfair it was to leave you all alone. But now? I see how right mom was. You don't know what love is and you have no fucking _honor_. You stole doctor Stromm research, right?"

Norman's face became dark, a crazy snarl escaping him as he suddenly lunged toward his son at a speed that defied comprehension. However, the Colt 1911 in Harry's left hand fired off repeatedly and the full pistol clip emptied into Norman's body. Two bullets pierced his eyes and reached his brain, four were placed in the center of his body and two were fired in each of his kneecaps.

Harry was horrified by what just happened; he hadn't intended to fire. Norman's hand reached Harry's weapon and he fell on his knee at the same time, blood spewed from his mouth. His eyes held endless sadness as he stared at his son. "I-I am so...rry, I... wasn't... much of a father."

Harry's gun clattered to the ground and his father fell back first on the lacquered wooden panels. There was blood pooling everywhere. When the haze of rage finally lifted from the young man, he looked at what his actions did and fell to his knees. Harry's hands were on his father trying to stave off the bleeding, in vain.

"No! No! Dad! Stay with me, I am sorry!"

Evil Harry appeared at his side whispering. **Aww, big baby cannot take it? You just killed him. Just like you wanted, congratulations, you are a man.**

Harry glared balefully at his evil double. "Shut up shut up shut up!"

**You killed your dad because he didn't have time for you.** Harry tried blocking out the taunts, but to no avail. The mocking laughter simply persisted. _Bang_! The room to the study opened violently and Talia appeared. Her gaze bounced from Harry to Norman. Her eyes slowly widened and she screamed. She pushed Harry away from Norman and began to sob. "Norman, darling!"

"S...so-rry lov-" Norman choked, and then he was gone.

Red appeared before Harry and he glared at Talia. "This is your fault."

Talia couldn't stop wailing, hugging the body of Norman. As she cried, Harry took his gun and changed the clip

"If you hadn't come into our lives, this wouldn't have happened." Harry pointed his colt at Talia, who stared up at him with horror in her gaze.

Grinning madly, Harry was about to shoot her too when two loud _bangs _resonated in the room and he felt pain in his chest. Blood bloomed on his white shirt and he turned to see Majordomo with a pistol whose barrel was still smoking. "Fuck." His gun clattered on the ground once again.

He tumbled to the ground, falling on his back, witnessing evil Harry smiling at him once again. His double's form began to shift and shimmer to be replaced by a gorgeous young woman with a red mane of hair staring at him as though he was so much dirt on her shoes.

"So I am really crazy." Harry admitted aloud, looking at the familiar form of the young woman he had fantasized about, or was it another mirage his mind conjured?

"_Stay there and die, worm."_ The ethereal Jean spat with scorn, her expression one of utter the security agents employed by Norman burst through the entrance of the study, darkness took Harry Osborn.

**# # #**

**Back with Jean...  
12:32 AM  
Oscorp HQ**

I didn't feel guilty at all. As I looked at my hands, I felt no remorse or disgust for myself as I remembered how I pushed Harry to kill his father and later get himself killed by the private security of his own house. I manipulated everything and everyone beside Samira. She has become my accomplice, in my erasing of the Osborns from the face of the earth.

Though she doesn't care either way, after I showed her what Norman is all about, taking his money and his company would be a good settlement for how much he had touched her. Talia had found the man disgusting and had told me it was the last time she was going to do the honey trap plan, I couldn't begrudge her.

Oscorp was a tall building, at least forty story high, and it was the crowning achievement of Norman Osborn and Otto Octavius. The two men knew each other since college, sharing the same vision to "change the world" so they decided to start a business. They chose to add the word "Corp" to their nickname the "O's", thus creating the name for Oscorp.

Jokes were on Otto when Norman sidelined him and took control of the company, and cheated him from his settlement money when he gave his controlling share to him. It made me laugh. Norman had no loyalty or hono and I was elated to have gone Goblin Slayer on his ass and killed him and his spawn.

*But it also shows that Otto was the philanthropist and Norman the money grubber.*

I hoped to be able to hire Otto later, and exploit his smarts in good faith and _actually_ _advance_ society. Earth needed to be at least at the level of most star societies out there to be able to withstand the obstacles heading its way. The Kree, Thanos, the Skrulls, a lot of other aliens. There would be many invasions in the next twenty years because those alien fuckers either want to harvest our DNA and conquer us, or want those infinity stones stashed on the planet.

"The first steps to enact big changes are here." I floated with the six armored shipping containers at my side in a pose that could be called Magnetoesque over the Oscorp skyscraper.

Not wanting to exhaust my astral body that had been out influencing Harry for almost the entire day, I decided that I would attack Oscorp myself and use it sparsely. I wore a catsuit and boots that I made someone else buy for me with a dark cloak and mask obscuring my face. I wore gloves to avoid giving away my identity as I was going to touch a lot of things today.

"It's almost Black Friday anyway. If you are going to hit someone, then it ought to be the fat, jiggling meat of unethical, greedy CEOs, right?" I snickered, landing on the roof with the containers.

Kneeling on the ground I pushed my spatial awareness toward the entire building till I reached the foundations. Throughout the forty floors I could feel everything happening into it, there were still people working, a simple scan of their minds showed scientists and security guards making their rounds. A smile stretched across my face. It couldn't have been any easier.

Norman and Harry's death must have kicked the metaphorical hornets nest and panicked everyone concerned. I projected myself in astral form to do a quick possession of the chief security guard. Opening my eyes, I was smackdab into the command center, looking at the screens showing most of the floors. What interested me was the R&D divisions. As I downloaded the floor plans from the chief's mind I realized that they were in the basement.

I cursed, letting go of the chief's mind and putting him asleep at the same instant. My astral form drifted lower, phasing through the floors. I passed through the administrative floors and the reception rooms at high speed until I phased in an elevator shaft until I reached the bottom of it two hundred meters deep. *Wow, Normie you don't joke about the safety of your R&D department.*

When I phased through the door, the futuristic look of everything struck me. It was as if I was in a TNG episode. I could get lost in there; there were so many rooms to explore! But I didn't have the time for that. I expanded my mental field to the entire R&D basement, compelling everyone present to sleep. Feeling the minds all around me drift into sleep, I swifty returned to my body on the roof.

Breathing in and out, I flexed my will and seized the armored containers and lifted from the ground to swiftly descend at the feet of Oscorp tower. I touched down before the entrance and opened a hole by destroying the gates and enlarged it with my TK by turning the steel and glass into particles. I entered the building with the containers floating by following me.

With a sweep of my right arm I sweeped away the furniture from the welcome area of the lobby, making space for my containers to pass. After a little walk, we arrived at the elevator space. The door opened as if a giant tore them down and I placed all my containers in a row before the opened elevator shaft. I levitated and dived into the shaft, the air of my controlled fall disturbing my cloak.

Two hundred meters down I stopped again in person before the door of the R&D department and it fell apart in fine particles before me. As I put a foot on the ground, I looked at the receiving area. A laugh bubbled out of me; there was no one to stop me. I skipped as I walked toward the end of the area. There was a card reader near the door to allow access but I disintegrated it too and began my acquisition trip.

I was aware that I was taking risks right now, that I could get caught by the police or something like that but, the riskier the road, the greater the profit. I couldn't pass up taking everything worth money, and the future from Oscorp. I arrived at some kind of main corridor with a vaulted gray ceiling, on the left and right there were doors that surely gave on different labs.

Going for the first door, it opened with a wave and I wasn't surprised to see a room full of shelves loaded with terrariums, filled with different species of insects and arachnids; this made me smile. In the center of the room was a blocky computer linked to multiple memory banks and a radiation projector that looked like a cannon whose end was a satellite dish.

I think I just found Cindy's birthday present. I looked for the spiders and when I found them I looked through them for the number forty-two.

Some of them were already dead but fortunately, it seemed that luck was with me. "Ah, there you are my beauty!" I took terrarium number forty two from its shelf and let it orbit around me. Spider forty-two was the only one left alive and I sure hoped it was the one that would allow my girlfriend to attain her iconic super powers.

There were many file cabinets on the wall near the scarab aisle, and I walked up to it, searching through them for the files on the spiders. *Got them!* I let those orbit around me too, floating and following me as I levitated toward the exit and the next lab that gave me hope for the future as I finally found where they kept all the computers. Desktop and laptops and supercomputers.

They were all offline.

Fortunately, I didn't bother choosing; I took them all, unplugging them from the walls and also making them follow me to the next room. My acquisition spree continued for over an hour where I had to go up the elevator shaft back and forth to load everything in the armored containers. Secreted in my messenger bag were twenty vials of Oz Serums that I found when I breached Norman's private lab.

I took Doctor Connor's formula, the Rhino armor prototype, the exo-suit that would be better known as the goblin armor and the glider prototype. The first prototype of what would become the scorpion suit and some kind of fancy gauntlets were also there- a good haul. I pilfered everything, even if it was bolted down.

I also stole the computers and files that were in the rooms, the delicate lab tools and furniture were also loaded in the containers that suddenly didn't seem to be enough for all the gear, tools and hardware I stole. There was only one lab left before I moved on and hid the containers in the private warehouse in Forest Hills.

At the same time, I evacuated everyone who was sleeping in the labs to the lobby at the entrance of the skyscraper. I couldn't let anyone down there with good conscience when I was going to torch the labs down. Floating to the last laboratory at the end of the huge corridor, I opened the door, and was taken aback by surprise when I saw someone awake inside.

He had a bowl-like haircut, wore round glasses and a lab coat covered a middle range grey business suit. With a quick probe of his mind, I realized that this was doctor Otto. *Weird, what is he doing here? And why is he fucking awake?!*

"Who are you?! W-what are you doing?!" His eyes widened like saucers when he saw the gear floating and following me around.

The half face mask on my face showed my lips that curved into a smile. I placed a finger before my mouth. "Shhh." And I pushed a suggestion in his mind about sleeping. He fell like a sack of potatoes on the ground, but I didn't let his head impact it. Floating toward him, I took off my right glove and touched his forehead with two fingers.

"You are one of the most intelligent men on Earth. I'm going to copy everything." I spoke, beginning to replicate Otto's skills and knowledge, taking care to not download any memory of his. Otto Octavius was a multi-discipline scientist with expertise in various fields of science and it fucking hurt to replicate a genius level mind!

"Argh! Damn, I'm not doing this again… Huh, wow I know Quantum physics and I can make a cold fusion reactor- why the hell didn't he make one?!" I stared at the sleeping Otto as I held onto my head painfully. I laughed through the pain, though. This guy had the power to help a lot of people; he was a brilliant engineer and inventor. Now I was too, having copied everything he knew. I intended to build onto this knowledge.

Then I shrugged. I wasn't about to let Otto get stuck here; he was too precious for the future. I just hoped he wouldn't blame me for destroying Oscorp and stealing everyone's research.

Otto Octavius was made to float with the gear behind me. I looked around me and saw that it wasn't a lab but more like a storage room. Oh! Otto's tentacles prosthetics were there too, and what's that? Rocks? Huh, oh wow, no this is…! I felt life coming from those two rocks which was bizarre and only meant one thing.

**Klyntar!** The voice of my other self rang into my mind.

The Klyntars, originally and better known as Symbiotes, were a species of inorganic, amorphous, symbiotic extraterrestrials created from the "_living abyss_" at the beginning of the universe by the primordial deity Knull who is a fucking bastard.

I gulped. This was dangerous, but those creatures could be useful, if raised right and could attain perfect symbiosis. *Okay, Jean if you do this, remember: Klyntars are sentient beings, not toys or pets; they deserve love and to be protected, right?*

With a nudge of my mind, I cracked the rock on the right and one anxiety filled minute later, I felt the mind inside awaken and oh so slowly, a puddle of golden and viscous elastic sludge poured out of the cracks I made from the meteorite on the ground. It looked right and left it seemed, feeling around with their own senses. I crouched slowly before it, allowing my ungloved hand to slowly near the Klyntar projecting feelings of welcome, protection and promise of friendship toward it thanks to my projective empathy.

Here, come unite with me. I will protect you and feed you if you promise to never hurt me and those I love.

The Klyntar rippled for over thirty seconds as it pondered over my words. Finally it made its decision, and reassured by my words, the golden puddle of amorphous sludge slowly advanced toward me and then latched on my hand. It elicited a little scream from me at first and then the symbiote slowly covered all my body in gold. This sensation of being engulfed by something… it scared me a bit. I felt the symbiote insinuate itself into my body, I almost harmed it when I couldn't take such an invasion, but when I felt it bond with me, something clicked in my head, as if I slotted another CPU on my circuit board.

[_Happiness_: Greetings.] The Klyntar projected it's mind-voice and I felt a glow of joy in my mind making my cheeks redden. Its voice was neutral.

*Huh, hi.* I thought aloud, sure that the symbiotes would understand me.

[_Mirth_: Thankful, I am for finding a host of such power and health on my first landing.] I felt that this golden symbiote was special. I felt that it was still bonding to me, tasting me, scanning my body to look for defects. When it came up empty, I sensed its approval and spoke. *You are a Klyntar, I am... huh, happy to meet you. My name is Jean. Are you sure that you want to bond with me? I am not the nicest person around.* I asked, aware of my own flaws.

There was no way that my hands would be stained in blood when I felt safe enough for me and my loved ones in this universe. The symbiote detected my own doubts and I felt its own.

[_Uncertain_: Host Jean, please offer me a name for easier discourse. To answer your question, you are a good person and fiercely protective of your family network. You have a plan to attain true peace which is admirable and it interests me to see you go through with it.] I felt its voice becoming gradually female in tone.

I glanced at my hand where the symbiote was moving like one of those japanese tentacle hentai. *I am going to call you Goldie, it's cute because you got a feminine voice even though your race is genderless.* It defied everything I knew about the Klyntar, the way she spoke like an AI or the mind talk. Do Klyntars have some weird tradition I wasn't aware of?

Goldie hugged my mind and decided that letting me in the dark wasn't good, as it could feel my psionics well and power; I could easily kill it. I wouldn't though, as she wasn't evil nor did she feel evil at all. [_Explanation_: You are my first host, and you are female and psionically powerful enough to understand the concepts, emotions and images I can transmit to you. I have decided that a female voice and identity would be easier for our continued _cooperation_.]

*You are one smart Klyntar.* Maybe too smart. She was doing all this to put me at ease and to not renege on our deal.

Shrugging, I decided to not linger here. "Okay, we don't have the time to speak for long, I must steal everything in this room to deny my enemy resources. I know that you good Klyntar are big on this justice thing."

The Klyntar symbiotes have established a hive mind capable of sensing the "_voice_" of the Cosmos and created an intergalactic peacekeeping society called the Agents of the Cosmos by using the symbiosis they needed to subsist in order to transform "_worthy_" hosts into the ultimate noble warriors.

I think I was too hasty in signing up to become the space police.

[_Compliance_: Dormant, I will be again.] It said and I felt its mind gradually become quiescent.

Forty minutes later, I'd finished looting everything and lit everything on fire with my pyrokinesis in a controlled manner. I simply destroyed anything I couldn't take with me, the terrariums who weren't containing any living spiders burned. Everything was consumed clean by the cosmic flames until no ashes were left. I floated up the elevator shaft, with my bubble of oxygen letting me and Otto to not be concerned by the lack of oxygen.

The loot slowly followed me up, then I reached the entrance of the shaft in the lobby. I didn't feel any awakened mind and that was reassuring but just in case, I planned on destroying the video records of my visit. I put Otto on the ground and I wrote a note saying "I will call you" with a smiley face on it that I placed in his lab coat pocket.

I sent my astral form to the command center of the chief security guard and began to obliterate everything with my TK by turning the recording gear into dust. *That's that.*

Returning to my physical form, I lifted from the ground and began to store everything in the half filled sixth container. I delicately placed everything inside. There were hundreds of millions of dollars of gear here. Once done, I lifted the containers from the ground and got out of Oscorp tower. I stacked the containers side to side and landed on the middle one and covered them in psionic energy and activated my cloaking field and I was finally out of here at cruise speed.

"Thanks for the shopping trip, Norman." I whispered as I thought about the awful man.

I turned north toward Willow Lake where I would hide the containers filled with goodies. I hugged the terrarium to my body, spider forty-two didn't feel any bothered by the trip. Goldie, my symbiote was sleeping and I vowed to make a giant stash of processed chocolate to feed it to not have the problems that Peter Parker and Eddie Brock from Earth-616 had with the Venom symbiote.

"Best acquisition trip ever."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 10**

**(Frank Castle)**

**November 1st, 1996  
Johnson's dinner/bar  
Queens  
10:00 AM**

Frank Castle swaggered into the bar, and took inventory. It was clean and the interior was a mix of old and new; the ceiling was all wooden panels, the wooden and brownstone walls were covered with memorabilia and propaganda ads of every war the United States had been in. One giant poster was of Uncle Sam saying 'I want U for U.S Army' which made him chuckle. As he walked toward the bar, under a LED sign, Frank saw the barman and owner, a fit and tall black man with wiping glasses behind the mahogany bar. He wore a plain fitted button up, dark slim jeans with a green apron over it that displayed the name of the bar. Frank sat on a stool at the bar in front of the barman.

"Frank Castiglione, as I live and breathe. What are you doing here?" The man looked genuinely surprised to see his ex comrade here when his wife had forbidden him to go to Johnson's.

Frank stared into his eyes. "It's Castle now; I had it changed. How are you, Avery?"

The black man shrugged. "Not so bad. I have everything I ever wanted since I left the service." He placed the glass he'd been cleaning down and waved his hand around him.

Frank nodded, smoothing out his black leather jacket. "That's great. How are Maria and the kids?"

Frank remembered once again that he brought his family there to grab a bite, but because of some bad guy who had come trying to obtain protection money on his bar the Castle kids and mother saw Avery kill two men, since then they never went back. Avery had understood and didn't begrudge Maria for wanting to protect her kids.

Frank leaned forward, his arms resting on the bar."Before I tell you anything, can I have a drink?" To Avery, the calm facade that Frank presented was just that- a facade, which is why he asked, "Your usual? Or should I get you something stronger?"

"Cognac lemon soda with ice." Frank said with a bored tone.

Avery took his mildest cognac out of his cabinet, opened the fridge and seized the bottle of lemon flavored soda and poured it in order in the glass, "Is something wrong with your family?" He asked, adding three ice cubes to Frank's drink.

Taking his drink, Frank chugged it down before placing it down on the bar half full and sighed. "It started one week ago. We were at Central Park…" Frank informed him of the events that occured- how they were saved, how he almost lost Maria and about the teenage girl with weird abilities who healed the mother of his children.

Avery leaned against the fridge, took a cigar out of his shirt pocket and stuck it between his lips. "So you met one of them powered people. That's rare; not a lot of them are around."

"Do you know more about them?" Frank seemed eager to know more about the girl who saved his family; he kept feeling powerless. This last week he was plagued with nightmares where his wife was dying, and each time he woke up he kept hugging her tight to feel the warmness of her body and to hear the sound of her heartbeat.

It showed to him that he needed psychological help, that he intended to take with his entire family; but he had something more important to enact first: _revenge_.

Avery's hand lit on fire and he put the end of his cigar in the flame. "Well some avoid the military or any government job, because if they do, they get captured and experimented on when the brass or a certain black arm of the government discovers their powers. There's a reason I stayed a sergeant, Castle."

Frank's eyes widened like saucers which evoked a chuckle from Avery as he put his cigar in his mouth breathing in and then releasing a puff of smoke. "So, what were her powers?"

Looking down in his glass, Frank remembered the events. "Move things with her mind? I saw her also turn assault weapons and body armor into dust…"

Avery squinted his eyes, puffed another circle of smoke. Then his eyes lit up. "Oh! Telekinetic, at least Alpha level… So, when those presumed government goons attacked her, do you remember what branch they belonged to?"

"They didn't say. Their logo was some kind of bird in a circle though, and they all seemed well trained and disciplined. They didn't even refuse the order from their superior when it was clearly unpleasant."

Opening the cash register, Avery retrieved a card from it. "Heh. Those collars are going to create a problem one day. The symbol, was it like this?" He threw the card between Frank and him on the bar.

A black eagle in a white circle. Frank recognized it, and looked up into Avery's eyes, closed his eyes, sighing, his face twisted to portray a painful expression. "Shit Frank, you are in hot water, man." Opening his eyes, Avery took the card back and quickly put it into the cash register.

Chuckling derisively, Frank said, "I guessed, they wanted us to sign NDA's but we refused. When they attempted to force the issue, the cute redheaded kid threatened them. Then she told us to tell nothing about what happened and we left in the ambulance."

Avery's eyebrows rose and he grinned. "You got a real firecracker to defend you. You always had the devil's luck like that."

Downing the last of his drink, Frank stared at his friend. "Yeah right, I didn't come here to tell you about it Avery. I want those people who almost killed my family, I want them dead and…"

"Give them all a belly full of lead and a pool of their own blood to drown in!" Avery cackled loudly.

Frank laughed with him. "You always say the nicest things, Avery."

Avery around the empty bar; there was no one present at this hour. "I will close first, then you'll follow me in the back." He left, and Frank stood up and walked up toward the employee's door, leading to the kitchen and to Avery's office.

The Marine felt Avery come behind him and turned to him, he had his key out; Frank stood aside and the barman inserted the key in the lock.

"Is Sarah here?" Frank asked.

Sarah Jonhson was Avery's wife- caucasian, tall, powerfully built, and a brunette. They had met in the corps. She made it to Commander before resigning her commission after marrying Avery, a black man, and was given flak for it. Now that Frank knew about Avery's powers, he was sure that there was more to it.

Avery shook his head, pushing the door open. "Nah, she's at work. Miranda is though."

Frank followed him. "You daughter is giving you shit still?"

They walked inside, passed the professional kitchen on the right side, turned left and ended up in a corridor with brick walls.

"Kind of, she got fire powers like me. Problem is she wants to join the chair force. They know how to see who is one of my people now, and I can't let her go; I would never see her again."

At the end of the corridor, there was a metal door with an electronic lock. Avery headed over to it, punched in some numbers and passed a card into the device.

Frank's expression was one of worry. Miranda was his goddaughter and no way would he let shit like this happen to her. He began thinking and the only thing that came to mind was the redhead who saved his and his family's life. "Maybe, just maybe ,I could ask the girl who helped me? They are the same age, after all."

Avery shrugged. "We will see."

The door opened, revealing a room filled with weapons on every wall, rack, and shelve. Frank's eyes shone with battle lust. "Wow."

Avery placed himself before his friend. "Now, I think it's time to call the old gang, Castle. We wouldn't want you to die for your revenge. Maria would kill me."

Putting a hand on Avery's shoulder, Frank shot him a smile. "Amen brother, Amen."

**# # #**

**Back with Jean Grey…  
November 4th, 1996  
Cerberus HQ  
09:00 AM**

Monday unfolded after the heist. I had stashed all the containers down in my warehouse in Forest Hills, the inventory of everything acquired to be made over the weekend. It was going to suck organizing all the stuff I stole…

Exiting the car, my knee high Daisy Duke boots touched the pavement before the tall building serving as a front for SHIELD in the Queens. One of the agents escorting me helped me up, then closed the door. I felt slightly self conscious as the blood red and black leather coat covering the red top and black leather skirt I now wore were my symbiote friend Goldie who didn't like the fact that I almost chose to wear normal clothes over herself.

I followed my protection detail, and as I walked up to the entrance of the building I noticed all the hidden SHIELD agents scattered around the building, disguised in civilian clothing. Inside, I asked Goldie, my new best friend, to stay dormant but to ask questions when she needed to know something. Although, she had proven over the weekend that she could read my memories most of the time to know what is what mostly.

I also discovered that Symbiotes love processed chocolate like the Marvel database had explained in my other self's original reality. It gave them a steady supply of phenethylamine- a chemical found as a neurotransmitter in the human brain.

I'd been feeding Goldie a lot of it since Friday, and fortunately she's not making me get fat for this. It forced me to keep chocolate bars on me all the time which caused mom to lock the snack chest down as she thought I was emptying it too fast.

As I grumbled over the family snack stash being denied to me, we passed the tastefully decorated welcome lobby, then I was led directly to a bank of elevators. As I climbed into the cage, I thought about today's job. My part time job was anything but simple- it was to offer support to the SHIELD interrogators in order to differentiate between what the truth was and what the fallacy was. Since I joined, they'd been able to accurately take down most of the internal threats of the USA.

I found corporate spies from China or Russia embedded in companies that were military contractors such as Stark Industries, HAMMER and PYM tech. They often hauled those people from their home to an interrogation cell in the basement of Cerberus headquarters and had me rifling through their minds and asking questions that their subconscious always answered.

Sighing heavily, I fastened my purse against me. When Phil had called at six this morning saying that this was an urgent business, shooting him down was on the tip of my tongue. I wanted to go to school and meet up with Cindy and my friends, but he must have been desperate because they tripled the money they would give me for an interrogation.

Mom hadn't liked how sudden this was sprung on me but had relented, having no objections, when she saw the paycheck for sixty thousand dollars. That alone was more money than my parents made in a year.

_Ding_! The elevator had moved and arrived while I was thinking about what type of customers Phil had for me which was strange as I hadn't felt it go up or down. As usual, at the basement's entrance, my old friend- the chief interrogator- waited for me in the offices full of grey cubicles and different agents mingling or going about their business.

"Good morning, Agent Dylan." I strode toward him, smiling.

Robert Dylan was a tall and athletic black haired man in his thirties, wearing his SHIELD uniform proudly. Since he discovered I possessed the ability to read minds, he had become strangely reverent with me- in fact, most of the people in his department went out of their way to make things comfortable for me. I often found recruiting pamphlets in my purse to join SHIELD though, they slipped them in after I was done.

The chief interrogator plastered on a jovial smile, holding his hand out for me to shake. "Jean, glad you could join us… we didn't expect to call you in. I hope it didn't upset you."

I took his hand and shook it. When I let it go, I shrugged dismissively. "These things happen, right? And I am paid for my consultancy."

Agent Dylan smiled at me, glad that I wasn't displeased with his department. "But you didn't set out to become the holy grail of interrogation."

My eyebrows rose at that, the fervor this guy felt for me and my power was kind of overwhelming and off putting, but to stay professional, I chose to ignore it and waved him off. "No, but it will pay for college."

Agent Dylan grinned and said, "You got me there girl. Okay follow me."

He spun on his heel, walking off, me and my protection detail trailing him. The offices gradually gave way to more spartan furniture, the kind that didn't let you think that where I was going was about practicality and pain. The people working here felt different- they compartmentalized themselves to be able to do the things they did. There was the agent, then the person they were completely separated, but able to switch from one to the other at the drop of a hat.

I guess it was a defense mechanism to the torture sessions they had light interrogation techniques they often practiced. If they didn't do that, I am sure there would be more psychos around in their midst, relishing in the pain and suffering off others.I was led to a room with a big one way glass, a desk with recording material, audio and video. A SHIELD support technician was operating the recording gear, headphones on his head.

I glared at him, displeased that he was there. I filed his name away in my head knowing he was part of a certain group. Then, as I looked through the glass, I saw that the other side, in the drab grey and dark room, sitting at a table was a brunette man, wearing glasses and an orange jumpsuit that had numbers on the breast pocket.

I turned toward Agent Dylan, scowling. "Why is Justin Hammer in the room and not in prison where he belongs?"

The man didn't flinch at my tone, completely different from the other SHIELD agents who knew about me and my powers. He at least had balls.

"He wants to make a deal by giving away information." Agent Dylan answered smoothly.

It wasn't his fault, he was just doing his job. I sighed heavily, then my eyes returned to the room. I looked harder at the man, pushing my awareness in the room and mind walked into Hammer's brain. Instantly, I began extracting information and emotions from him.

Even though he appeared to be calm and composed, Justin was desperate; he was… dying? *What the hell! First Norman, now Hammer? Did all those rich older men gobble up something to make them ill collectively?!*

He had stage two pancreatic cancer- it meant that he was still in the green zone and that it was salvageable. He should have been more careful with the bottle. With me changing his fate and throwing him early in prison for his criminally shoddy work and terrorist support made it so that he couldn't find some wonder cure from Hydra or the Hand to treat himself. Justin was about to make a big mistake. I tried not to think about it because I had noticed how SHIELD was riddled full of Hydra agents dormant or active. I didn't want them to be onto me yet, like I was onto them. I just didn't have enough power or resources to take them out.

If Justin talked, he wouldn't live to see tomorrow; they would kill him in his cell. Why is Marvel throwing this hot potato in my lap suddenly?! *Fine you want to play? Ok we will! If there's someone who can take care of SHIELD it's Peggy.*

"Agent Dylan?" I called out without turning to him.

"Miss Grey?"

"Call down Director Carter and Agent Coulson please. This is big, okay?" I took a chair and pulled it from under the desk.

*I should have asked for more money.* We needed to be careful with what was going to happen right now. First, I needed to get that bastard recording out of the room.

"Yes, very well." Agent Dylan complied, exiting the room and heading toward the offices.

I chose to sit at the table, starkly ignoring the technician at my side but clearly sifting through his mind. I wrote his name, Craig Anders, in my mental diary like I did for every Hydra plant I meet since I was forcefully recruited by SHIELD. There were already two hundred of them since then. I met some of them in the weapon and vehicle testing facility in the Catskill Mountains, or on rotation in this hidden HQ office, from the other SHIELD offices in Texas, Washington and California.

Five minutes later I plundered all the dirty things related to the job he did and was sickened; destroying evidence or interrogation records to protect some Hydra moles who were caught red handed or to protect the interest of Hydra. I was aware he messed up some of the evidence I had found against Roxxon Energy through their subsidiaries Cybertek Systems by finding the money trail linking them.

I almost killed him on the spot. Instead I put him to sleep, permitting his face to fall violently onto the desk. Then I waited for my… was Peggy my mentor? It sure felt like it; I liked her more each time we entered in contact. She was at least more grandmotherly than Granny Grey was. She had been a complete socialite, but she was dead now.

Now it was Sara, Julia and I. I was grateful they weren't running around here, instead they were in college doing collegial stuff like attending parties and studying. Though, somehow Sara knew about my powers and I had an inkling mom must've told her... Urgh, they are coming back for Thanksgiving!

I felt Peggy and Agent Dylan move in the building. Oh, Phil was coming with them too! This would go even better than I thought. I shrugged, then my gaze focused on the barely holding there Justin Hammer; I was really tempted to go in there and speak with him, but I didn't. My presence here was supposedly need-to-know (Ah!) and my abilities only to be known by level 3 agents and beyond.

The door opened and it was Agent Dylan entered first, followed by Peggy who was clad in a white pantsuit. Phil trailed behind her, looking harried. I stood up and went to shake Peggy and Phil's hand.

"Hi, it's good to see you ma'am. Phil."

Phil grunted, but gave my hand an affection filled squeeze. He knew that I couldn't say no to him when he asked something and vice versa, but we tried to not abuse each other this way.

"Good morning, what did you discover that required my presence?" Through my empathy I sensed that Peggy harboured annoyance towards me; I took her away from an important meeting it seemed.

"Well… I'm pretty sure you are going to hate me for this." I smiled at her innocently.

Peggy sighed, pinched the bridge of her nose and counted to ten. She was used to me bringing bad news to her. I promised myself to buy her the best tea set possible with my new wealth. It made me think that I should go visit the Talia shelter. The Talia shelter was the apartment complex that the money I plundered bought. It was twenty years old, but sturdy, and we would do renovations later. It could house forty people. Talia was busy contracting someone to do something about the phone, electricity and cable tv.

The women and girls I saved grumble but at least they had a roof above their head, food in their belly, and clothes on their back.

"By all means, please tell us what prompted you to contact us?" Peggy waved. I smelled the vanilla perfume wafting from her body. Was it me or were my senses getting stronger?

I shelved this for later and simply pointed a thumb at the sleeping guy behind me and said, "First thing first, Phil arrests this technician. He is a mole."

Agent Dylan's indignation piqued at that, and he placed himself between the technician and me, "What? No, Agent Anders was screened thoroughly."

He was friends with Anders too, and spoke up against me out of loyalty. The interrogation department was full of loyal people, but in this case it was kind of a hindrance. "Eh, yeah of course he was screened, but it doesn't matter, SHIELD is full of Hydra agents."

Silence reigned for a while at my revelation. To break the silence, I said, "The squiddies are alive, Peggy and they have infiltrated SHIELD since its inception. What did you think would happen when you let Hydra's scientists in? Now they are everywhere."

We ignored Dylan who was taking the news badly, his gaze shooting between us and the sleeping form of agent Anders.

Peggy finally spoke, "Is this why you don't trust SHIELD? That you were so adamant in working exclusively for me?" Peggy passed through different levels of emotions ranging from disbelief and anger, I saw her hands tighten into fists before she channeled those feelings and breathed in and out and relaxed.

Though her outside emotional response didn't blind me from her inner turmoil. Peggy felt weary, believing everything she'd done was in vain. I walked up to her and took her gloved right hand and stared meaningfully into her eyes.

The "Yes." that I answered her with simply broke her heart. She had given everything to see her enemies routed and destroyed, but it hadn't been enough. She was overcome with the urge to cry but her tough demeanor wouldn't allow her to do it before us.

I projected a soothing feeling toward her. It wasn't her fault, she was so trusting and believed in redemption, but as it is often the case some people didn't deserve it. Howard Stark was more wary of handing them out, but he had decided to follow the group instead of voicing his opinion. Result, he was killed by Roxxon who had hired the winter soldier and Hydra had sent their pet assassin with glee to dispose of Howard Stark.

How do I know this? There were a lot of variations of how Howard And Antonia Stark died. Fortunately, it seemed that only Howard died in this reality.

Phil finally decided to participate in the conversation. "What about Hammer?" He tipped his chin toward the opaque glass where the man was behind. He felt distressed as well, and watched Peggy like a hawk, feeling for her. "He is about to give you concrete information about another Hydra Branch in Europe led by Baron Von Strucker, and he knows who the people leading the Hand are in the USA." I answered as I plunged deeply in Hammer's memories.

"That's…" Peggy tried to say something as she thought about the almost immortal Wolfgang Von Strucker, one of her most tenacious enemies; the Hand was also a problem, an organization as old as Hydra itself.

I continued. "Important, but it will mean nothing if you let the Hydra plants amongst SHIELD sniff out what I told you."

Sitting back on the chair, I crossed my legs, watching Peggy muse deeply about the problem. I didn't pry in her mind beyond feeling her emotion in turmoil. Agent Dylan didn't look at his friend, though he was torn between his duty and his friendship for him. Phil leaned against the wall, thinking about his interactions with everyone he led, what kind of things that might have been out of place, if some of his friends were genuine.

They didn't even question what I was saying, that's what having a telepath on the payroll was doing to them. I was paid to tell the truth and pry into the brains of everyone. Hammer was giving me an excuse to mess with the Hydra branch of SHIELD and I could only hope it didn't blow up in my face 's gaze sharpened on mine once again, her tone martial and unforgiving when she spoke. "Jean, do you know who they all are?"

I straightened in my chair, turning serious. I didn't feel like acting like a kid when Peggy was like this anyway. "In the building? Yes, I do. But there's others in the other HQ all over the United States. To get them all we would need to strike everywhere at once. They are not called Hydra for nothing." I stood back up and looked at Hammer who was finally cooked after being left stewing.

Peggy nodded sagely. "If a head is cut off, two more shall take its place." The older woman walked up to my side, poked an arm and said, "I want a list of everyone who is in on it, in New York."

I looked at her and crossed my arms under my breasts. "Are you sure that you want to?"

Peggy's gaze became harsher. "Yes, you are not to act on any information you will give me, Understood?"

My eyes widened. "But-" She couldn't be serious! This… without me this would turn into a fucking disaster! There was no way I would let her do this alone.

When she spoke to me again, her tone harboured no room for compromise. Her eyes were steel-like and I found myself shying away from her. "Jean?"

I knew she might lose, and despite me a tear rolled down my cheek. "If anything happens to you, I will save you and damn the consequences. Same for you, Phil." I told my surrogate uncle who had been speaking with agent Dylan and handcuffed agent Anders. Phil just smiled back at me, but he couldn't lie to me, he was afraid; this was going to be really hard to be hands off with that business.

Putting a hand on my shoulders, Peggy said soothingly. "I like where your heart is, Jean, but this is my problem. I wasn't thorough enough and now the monster is back. This isn't your fight." With the silk handkerchief from her breast pocket, she dabbed away the tears from my eyes. I hugged her and whispered in her ear, "Then you better crush them all to not make it so. Stomp them hard, wherever they are. Have no mercy."

Peggy chuckled. "Child, you can't teach your grandmother to suck eggs."

And that was that. Agent Dylan proceeded to go to interrogate Hammer along with Phil, they entered the room and the prisoner latched on this instantly. "Aaah, the black suits are comin' applaud everyone." Hammer tried to applaud but the manacles he was wearing got in the way.

"Can it Hammer, this isn't the time." Agent Dylan snapped, throwing a thick folder filled with files on the table between them. The revelation didn't go well with the poor man, Craig Anders was arrested for destruction of evidence and will be interrogated as well; but with more violence than necessary.

Hammer nodded eagerly and leaned forward making his manacles jiggle. "Of course, of course. I've come to give you information. But there's a price for that."

It was Phil who asked, "What, will it be?" His back was against the wall beside the entrance of the room, gazing in an inscrutable way at the ex-billionaire.

The mood in the room shifted, becoming somber, Justin Hammer's shoulders slouched, and his voice was laced with sadness when he spoke, "I am dying- pancreatic cancer stage two. I want it to be treated with the best doctors you can afford, and in return I will give you everything I know. **Everything**."

Yes, I was already taking the numbers and passwords for his offshores accounts and writing them in my mental diary to not forget anything. There were several billions worth in the Caiman, Liechtenstein and the Bahamas. I planned to reroute all this money into a new account and save it for when I'd start my own company.

"We know." Phil nodded.

Hammer glared at uncle Phil, making his manacles and the chain holding them rattle. "You have been doing the minimum possible to treat me, that's so unsporting." The man whined.

It was so pathetic, my eyes rolled.

"Are we supposed to care after what you did?"

The ethical work in Hammer industry was so bad that any military savvy person would never buy anything from them. It worked most of the time, but defects were found in most of the weapons produced by this company. I was biased because of the memories of agent Katherine Shane who was a Stark weapon user and thought them the best. The woman had been the first person to have her knowledge and skills replicated and she was the base of most of my knowledge on how to handle intelligence work.

"I suppose that no, you shouldn't feel responsible, but…" Hammer felt vindicated that they didn't care much.

Dylan interrupted him, snapping, "You are lucky we were told to give you everything you needed, now spill."

Hammer choked out a laugh of frustration."Fine, it goes like this..."

And he spilled everything; who the Hand representative was in New York, Madame Gao, Bakuto and that they were in control of Rand Enterprises who recently reshuffled their board members- this couldn't be a coincidence. Now came the turn of Hydra, and here came the location of Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker and his lapdog Zemo who were in Switzerland and had some weird activity going in Japan.

I was there to give context in how Hammer knew about what he was giving us; it was mainly through parties and doing business in the underworld that he met all those people. I avoided reading his mind when he thought about the orgy he participated in that was sponsored by Hydra, who knew. Baron Zemo was into those. There was also the fact that Hammer rubbed elbows with the Mandarin, I saw the man in his mind, a tall asian guy with long hair, in a wuxia combat robe, he fancied himself a learned and larger than life person, I could see the rings on his fingers.

*So, Tony Stark will get kidnapped and rumble with the real Mandarin. Nice to know.* I filed that away for later.

"And this is all I have." Hammer finished, leaning back in his uncomfortable chair.

Agent Dylan nodded, and pushed a button on the recorder near him, he'd also been writing too in a notepad too. He leveled his eyes on Hammer and said, "Then we are done there, Mister Hammer. You'll be given your treatments in a hospital prison facility until you are in remission."

"That's fine with me." Hammer shrugged. "But? Don't I get a receipt or something?"

Phil pushed a button on the panel at his side and then guards arrived to take Hammer away. Peggy looked at me, took my right arm and pulled me out of the interrogation room. I followed her, "I will send you on your way." Of course she took me aside to write that list for her on the pretext to give me my paycheck personally.

Peggy was worried for me; Hydra surely knew about me already and she had in mind that I would need to vet the members of my own guard detail. I hoped that I didn't put in motion something that I couldn't take back.

**# # #**

**(John Greycrow / Marauder Team)**

**Wyndham Hotel  
Presidential Suite  
12:05 PM**

"Everyone is here?" The tall native american man wearing a jacket that had many metal pieces on it asked, his gaze trailing over everyone present in the dining room. He stood as he gazed at each of the members of this eclectic group who mainly joined for the juicy reward attached for the completed job. They all sat there at the table, waiting expectantly for him to begin.

They were all in the luxuriously decorated presidential room for the day, taking a break from casing their target and planning. John looked at each of them, two women sitting on the farside of the table, one barely out of her teens but with infiltration and intelligence gathering skills, she also had the power of psychic camouflage and weave believable illusions, the second one was simply a broken woman, once a soldier now turned mercenary with super strength and toughness.

Lady Mastermind and Arclight.

He wanted to scoff at their chosen operative names, but he refrained, opting to remain professional. Then there were the other boys- a teleporter and his second in command, since Gambit was now deader than a doornail, Vanisher. The man had experience running a criminal crew and was gifted in infiltration and exfiltration.

Blockbuster, who looked at him with a dispassionate gaze, was another brute who possessed various superhuman physical attributes as a result of his natural mutation. He'd been recommended by Mister Sinister so John viewed him as a wild card.

Then there was Prism, the least t human looking of them; his body was totally crystalline, but his power was useful. He could refract most forms of energy directed at him, including ambient light to project and amplify it to throw it at his enemies. Yet again. a late addition to their group when he had made his report to Sinister.

Harpoon or Kodiak Noatak was an assassin for hire. He was an Eskimo mutant who'd been driven out of his tribe- a consequence of his powers surfacing. A compelling but common tale for people like them. He had accepted to be on the payroll and to let Mister Sinister find new applications to his powers; the man was obsessed with self-perfection.

And finally there was Scrambler or Kim Il Sung, a friend of the late Gambit who lamented his sudden demise and who had been less than enthused to try to take on subject Grey when it was revealed that she could kill them from afar if she ever felt them and their intentions. The plan to take her down clearly hinged on Scrambler's ability to disrupt the function of any system with his touch, whether the system be that of a living being, a machine, or a field of energy. He was required to make physical contact with his target with his bare flesh in order to affect it. If his victims possessed superhuman powers, Scrambler could disrupt the functioning of those powers

After a last row of glaring, John nodded. "Good."

John then manipulated the mechanical component of his jacket into a rifle, he knew intrinsically how to build one. It was his power, Technoformation, allowing him to configure components into different weapons, technology or tools.

He lowered his rifle to the table and then locked gazes with the blonde young woman at the table. "Miss Wyngarde, what have you got for us?"

"And we start with me, as usual." Lady Mastermind rolled her eyes, leaned forward into her chair, placed her elbows on the table, and her expression morphed into a serious one. "I've been following Jean Grey for two weeks now, and I've been able to profile her somewhat. She was a loner at the start of the year but had a bad reputation with the kids at school before she formed her clique and engineered a plot to expel those feeding bad rumors about her. She's loyal and friendly with her friends, but ruthless and uncompromising with those she deem her enemies."

Lady Mastermind's face was now a mask of worry as she continued, "I noticed something about her. She mentally scans her surroundings completely. I couldn't even enter her school without feeling a headache. The psionic field was massive and I don't think that the two kilometers that I used were her maximum range."

"Even with the overlays?" John asked, worried.

The teenage girl took the circular grey device out of her grey jacket's pocket and threw it on the table before her. "Those don't work when you try to take on powerful telepaths. It works on me and I am classed as an Alpha level mutant... what does it mean for us, mister Greycrow?"

There was uncertainty on the faces of everyone, and John answered with as much confidence he felt."That we are going to need to be even more prudent and careful." He knew that some of them were going to die on this op; the girl was powerful, and he was only considering continuing with the mission simply because she'd never battled against other mutants.

He raised an eyebrow at the young woman. "What else do you have for us?"

Lady Mastermind huffed and crossed her arms in annoyance. "I know who her friends are, and who her _sweetheart _is. Some half South-Korean girl, a normal."

"Kidnapping?" Scrambler raised an eyebrow, nd aJohn noted the certain eagerness present on the asian man's face.

*Revenge, huh?* John glowered at Scrambler who noticed and averted his eyes. Making things too personal was bad for business and it was bound to bring problems for the group. John's eyes refocused on the blonde teenager.

He saw Miss Wyngarde shrug in answer to Scrambler's question. "_Possible_, but foolhardy we would be dead before approaching any of them."

No one understood why she was saying that, and Arclight poked her to have more clarifications. "Well, she can manifest her TK from afar and I am not good enough at Astral combat. She would do the same thing to me she did to Malice." Lady Mastermind said, her voice small.

Malice could possess anyone and she was the first one to fail to capture Jean Grey. John and Lady Mastermind were witness to her demise, the young woman had given him context about what happened. Malice was a being of pure psionic energy and Jean Grey absorbed that raw energy into herself and destroyed Malice's mind while perusing her memories and taking her skills for herself.

John understood that, at that moment, Lady Mastermind was terrified of Jean Grey- a mutant who could cut through her mental shield like tissue paper and do anything to her. The little redhead being an unethical telepath was a given when John considered the past attempts that his sponsor made to capture Jean Grey since she was a child.

Now they had to capture their prey alive and whole- a prey aware that she was being hunted. It was a worthy challenge to John. He wasn't called Scalphunter for nothing.

Lady Mastermind sighed."When you go in, I will already be at the main base. My power is insufficient and badly matched to hers so I would just slow you guys down.""You don't know that Reggie!" Arclight put a hand on Lady Mastermind's, an affectionate gesture that didn't move the teen at all.

Lady Mastermind retracted her hand, shooting Arclight a glare. "Don't call me that, _Philippa_."

Arclight harrumphed when she heard her hateful first name, her purple hair swishing back and forth because of the fans on the ceiling."Okay I get it, you don't have to bite my head off like that." Blockbuster chuckled at them. It was a rumbling sound that defused the tense atmosphere that had been pressuring them. Prism glowed in amusement, showing his inability to hide his emotional state. Vanisher stoically sat there, not bothering to participate.

After this bout of banter, they began forming a strategy on how they'd t take on subject Grey. Mainly distractions to keep her unfocused, if she did one of them would die and no one wanted to do that. Blockbuster and Arclight argued about taking the girl in CQC range, Vanisher wanted to just teleport to her and sedate her and get paid. Lady Mastermind called him an idiot and that he would die before he could get a needle near Grey's neck.

Scrambler whined about the fact that he would have to have to touch Grey to disable her powers and that everyone had to work together to let him get close. John liked all those ideas and decided to implement them all. It was going to be about moving fast, distracting her and taking her down as fast as possible. *And I still see that at least half of us will die.*

_Ting_!

His communication tablet pinged, and he unlocked it with a swipe of his index finger, clicking on the text message he received. A furrow appeared on his face, then a slow evil self satisfied smile blossomed on his face showing his teeth.

Vanisher noticed and asked, "What's up John? Good news?"

"My friends, those are terrible news for our target, good news for us. This operation has become so much easier. It seems that the target's escort is going to be lighter from now on."

"That's cool, Scalpy. But we still must find a way to eliminate them all." Arclight interrupted.

John smiled, more than bare bones, he has the skeleton of a plan forming in his mind. "You are right, that is why I decided to use all of your good ideas to form a layered plan that should bring us victory." It required a shit ton of explosives, a .50 Cal rifle and some of their teleportation discs and harnesses.

"But at what cost?" Prism asked aloud. He was an experienced mercenary like John and knew that this mission would bring casualties. The crystalline man looked at everyone around the table and knew some of them would not live to even lay eyes on the money.

"Yes, we have much to lose." Blockbuster added.

"No pain, no gain." John said with finality, placing his tablet on the table.

**# # #**

**Back with Jean…  
01:24 PM**

Well, I'm sure they regret taking me in now. I massaged my right hand, slightly sore from writing all those names on two pages. Peggy had been watching me like a hawk as I wrote them down, her anger simmering to a boil as she recognized most of the names on the list. It was then that she scared me a bit. When I was done, and to not lie, Peggy took out her checkbook and wrote in it.

It was a cheque for one-hundred thousand dollars which had me looking at Peggy like she was off her rocks, and I'd asked if it was some kind of 'severance pay' or something? She didn't reply, instead making a shooing motion at me, ushering me away. Now I was waiting for Phil in his office because he had something for me it seemed. I was sitting on a swivel chair, looking all around me as I was getting bored and anxious about the happening of the day.

I saw family pictures on Phil's desk, I was sure that it was his parents and his wife. Ex-wife, maybe? He didn't wear a ring.

"Thank you for waiting." Phil said as he suddenly opened the door of his office.

In his hand was a familiar armored suitcase. "Is that what I think it is?"

Phil went to sit on the desk and placed the suitcase before him. "Maybe. What do you think it is?" He taunted.

He knew I never tried to enter his mind since he'd become practically family to me, and he loved to lord this over me, it gave place to little games like those. It didn't matter with my empathy; it never went off now that I had ninety-percent control on my power.

I looked intently at the suitcase, letting some of my awareness around it, and to my utter surprise, I was unable to see inside it. Did they add adamantium to the lining of the suitcase? It was the only metal dense enough that could insulate from psionic energy so far. "A SHIELD uniform?"

Phil showed his index and his thumb at one inch of each other. "Almost, I decided you should have more protection, those are underclothes. I know that you have your telekinetic barrier but I would feel more at ease if you had some kind of last line of defense. They are made of the same material as our uniforms." Phil slid the suitcase on his desk toward me.

I took it, but didn't open it. I leveled my gaze to his Grey eyes and grinned,"You are the first man who isn't my father to offer me underthings."

"Glad to have that notch on my belt then." Phil said without blinking, a quirky smile on his lips.

I giggled. See here? I love this man; he could snark like a champ. "Thanks for the present. I hope it didn't cost you… anything." I didn't want for him to owe favor to anyone, at least not on my behalf. I hated being in debt, but I planned to play with the big boys and gals who made decisions for their people so I needed to resolve myself to it.

Phil shrugged, absently placing back each of his family pictures to where they had been. "Beyond going on a date with Agent May, no it didn't cost me much."

I gaped at him. Melinda May was here? I really wanted to meet her! Huh? I was getting influenced by other-self again. She was was getting excited in my head, Calm down, ok?

Other self huffed and became quiescent again. I felt another mind laugh at us- Goldie, who was being a good Klyntar and not doing any of her symbiote things. I tilted my head and found the mind of Melinda May, she wasn't a squid thank god.

Smiling, I said with honesty, "I hope it works between you two, she's quite the catch, Phil. You deserve to be happy."

Phil's eyes sparkled. "Thanks, c'mon let's get you back home." He rose from his seat, walking around the desk and waiting for me.

I stood up, adjusted my red leather coat and then held onto my new high tech suitcase. "You know I am a big girl, I can find my way…"

Phil gave me a look, buttoned his jacket and said, "Now that the wool was pulled from my eyes, you really think I will allow you to be alone?"

Shoulders sagging, I averted my eyes, not daring to make eye contact. I loved the fact that people cared for me, but they were also choking me. "Damnit uncle Phil, stop making sense!"

He opened the door and held it for me before looking for foes in the glass-like corridor. "That's my job, here follow me."

We walked in silence for a while, took the elevator and one minute later we were in the underground parking garage of SHIELD where my security detail waited for me. Wait, there were less of them now. I counted four new people who replaced some of the squiddies in my group.

*Peggy you work fast. So, it means that the armored underclothes plan was her idea? Or she took advantage of Phil's overprotectiveness? That woman scares me.*

Two women fresh out of the academy and six men with different levels of abilities; some of them were level two and three agents. Grunts, all wearing unmarked uniforms with body armor, their weapons were kind of still lights. They will get killed in case of attacks, I see that Peggy rackled the end of the barrel. Maybe I was too harsh on them?

"They are new." I whispered to Phil.

"They are, but give them a chance, okay?" Phil hoped that those agents would toughen up.

My voice was hard when I said, "You know, they are going to die right? What if I need to fight to protect them?"

"Then escape together, you don't have to attack to do this." He simply answered with his special patronizing gaze. I totally understood what Daisy felt when she had this trained on her in the TV show. There was no way that I wanted to disappoint him, it was worse than my own mom...

I glared at him and slapped his arm. "Urgh, okay. Stop with the common sense attack, please."

His gaze turned even more serious as he entered deeper into papa bear mode. "You need more formal training, Jean. If you had accepted back then we would be-"

I stopped him with two fingers on his mouth; when he got going he didn't stop. "Maybe… maybe another time, uncle Phil? I kind of don't trust anyone in this place but you, Peggy and it pains me to say it, Nick."

Phil sighed. "You are still mad at him?"

There were things that I would never forgive as long as I lived. "I take my freedom seriously. If it depended on Nick Fury, I would be in house arrest forever."

Phil chuckled at that. Nick had offered this option at least two times a week since SHIELD took me in and he was the most _vocal _proponent of keeping me under lock and key and using my ability for the _good _of the country. "I cannot deny that."

"Of course you can't…" I hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. "Bye."

I walked up to the second vehicle, entered first and was followed by the rookie female agents and one more senior male agent. A few minutes later we left. I would realize later that this would be the last time I was going to be a consultant for SHIELD.

**# # #**

**Grey Penthouse  
01:59 PM**

Those rookies had been chatty in the car. Eve and Alice, contrary to all the previous agents, were keen on getting to know me and not believe the grapevine. I had to make some things float for them or take the name of their boyfriends out of their head to give them a sampling of my abilities.

They'd applauded when I'd given more details about their lives and I decided to not pry too much. I honestly felt like a show magician. If forming a company failed, I presumed I could strike it big in Vegas. As if.

I started to like the boisterous Alice and the gutsy Eve. They were weapon and combat specialists. Their fighting style seemed to go beyond the Jeet kune do, Jiu Jitsu and Krav Maga style taught at SHIELD academy. Eve and Alice followed me until they left me before the door of the penthouse. I turned and saw them wave goodbye before the elevator's doors closed.

The penthouse's door opened and what wasn't my surprise to see the love of my life there standing. *I need to scan more actively.*

She wore a tight black and white Korean band T-shirt, paired with skinny blue jeans that showed off her fit and yet curvaceous body. I was still surprised to see Cindy when she walked up to me, seized the lapels of my leather coat and pulled me in for a kiss. My passive focus was shot, my awareness only around the two of us and how delicious she tasted and how right it was to have her in my arms. I don't know how long this continued before we pulled away, needing to regain our breath.

"Welcome home." Cindy greeted me, with a toothy and easy smile.

With half lidded eyes, I stared at her with love and with a lot of emotion in my voice, I asked, "Marry me?"

Cindy laughed, not understanding that I was completely serious. "Maybe in a few years."

She didn't say no. My eyes sparkled and I smooched her again before saying, "I will hold you to that."

My girlfriend took my right arm, pulling me inside where I wasn't surprised to see Jessica and Patsy. I put back my mental field online and discovered that Gwen was here too in the bathroom. Cindy let me go just as Patsy stood up and glomped me.

After a brief hug, my friend mock glared at me, poking me with her finger."Where were you?"

Today she wore a dark yellow hoodie with a matching short skirt. The color went well with her hair and eyes. The knee-high socks she wore were also a nice touch.

I shrugged and gave her my best smile. "I was at my _part time job, and they_ had needs for my services."

They all knew who I worked for and avoided the subject since I wasn't privy to tell them what exactly it was that I was doing. Patsy led me to the sofa where there was a brief tug of war to sit with me and Cindy won. She cheated of course, the minx. Then they began to speak about what happened at school, the news of Harry Osborn having killed his dad and attempted to kill his fiance who would have become his step mother circulated.

His friends Liz Alan, Flash Thompson and his girlfriend Mary Jane Watson were interrogated by investigators at school with their parents present. Beside that, nothing much happened. I sure hoped those three wouldn't get too upset by what Harry did. I still didn't feel guilty about what I'd done.

Then the conversation shifted to more materialistic subjects such as clothes, music, shoes, movies and the latest technology, until Gwen appeared and took a seat next to Jessica.

"Oh, I wish we could have those cellular phones I heard about at school, it would be great." Patsy really wanted a phone to stay in contact with us more but her mother didn't want to add another telephone in her adoptive daughters' bedrooms.

"Huh, I can get you some." I blurted out.

Everyone looked at me. Gwen looked curious. She took a cookie on the low table between us and ate it while waiting for me to explain.

"How?" Jessica intervened, eyebrows raised. Today she wore a black strappy top showing off her midriff, grey jeans ripped at the knee. Her jewelry was all silver and fantasy themed. My best friend had an idea of what I was doing for SHIELD; I told her some things I did through our personal telepathic link.

I smile at Jessica. "You might not know it but I have a lot of money from working for the government."

"How much are you talking?" Cindy held onto my arm and glued herself a bit closer to me.

I thought about the paycheck that was burning a hole in my leather coat pocket. "Today's job netted me, one-hundred thousand dollars."

Silence descended upon the room. The blonde pixie's cookie fell on her lap. Patsy almost choked on hers and Cindy just watched me as though I was lying. She should know better. I put an arm around her waist, she leaned into me without much resistance.

"You didn't kill anyone, right?" Gwen asked nervously.

Gwen was in tight clingy blue jeans and a black rock band t-shirt too big for her, weird. It looked like a man's shirt. I shook my head, maybe it was nothing.

As for me doing dirty work for SHIELD? I would not become that kind of person. I wasn't a patriot. "No killing. The conditions I set up when they _hired_ me was that I was not going to become some kind of super soldier or assassin for them."

Jessica who had more context on what I was able to do sent me a thought through our mental link. **You go into people's head for them, huh.**

**And it pays so well.** I nodded, acquiescing to the fact that she was spot on, then glared at her without heat. **You are too smart for your own good, Jones.** No wonder she became a top independent investigator in another life.

Jessica giggled and shrugged, taking another swig of her pepsi can. She dared bring that into my home, how bold. Cindy cuddled at my side and said, "Whatever, if you want to get us phones I will take one. You are going to be my sugar mama."

A laugh burst from me; she didn't know just how true her words were. I was so going to spoil her once I could reveal how deep my finances were. We smooched again, Jessica snickering when Patsy made gagging sounds. "Wait girls," We looked at the resident pixie. "Instead of buying them… why not build them?" Gwen suggested.

Schematics for communicators using the GSM's network filled my mind instantly. It was as if my brain did a research on google and gave me the most pertinent match to what Gwen asked. "I could build one, but I simply don't have the time." I realized.

Gwen gaped at me, fully believing me from the conviction in my voice. She laughed, her body trembling in mirth.

"Only you Jean, only you." Patsy chuckled, slapping her thighs repeatedly, her dark yellow skirt ruffling as she did so.

"If you are so busy, why not let Peter… do it?" Gwen's voice gained that innocent tilt she employed when she wanted something.

I squinted my eyes at her. "Fair point. He is good with computer and gadget stuff." There's potential here I admitted. Peter wasn't spied on like I was and could make the tech I needed. I asked after slight deliberation, "You think he can really do it? He would have to hack into the GSM network already in place. Or we could pay for SIM cards..."

Maybe we could have the two? Have the legal and hacked part for our phones.

Gwen smiled wide. "He can, if I give him enough incentive."

At this affirmation, it was like all of us had smelled blood in the water. Jessica was the first to ask, "Gwen is there something you aren't telling us?"

She froze when she felt all our gazes on her. I grinned at her ruthlessly and crossed my legs and said, "He... finally asked you out didn't he?"

Gwen flushed, turning a deep shade of red and after a few beats she nodded. "Oh finally!" Patsy shouted, standing up and jumping in glee.

Jessica followed suit and did a fist pump. "About time!"

"So the plan to lock them in a room together is scrapped?" Cindy asked with a singsong voice.

We all looked at her; how could she reveal our final trump card so casually?! We turned to Gwen who glared at us in betrayal. She stood up and focused on me, taking the cushion at her side and flinging it at me. Because of course it was my plan and she wasn't stupid- she knew I was the engineer.

I hit the cushion aside with a minor TK slap and it landed on Patsy's face who glared at me and threw it back at her. And this is how the cushion battle started. Mom had to separate us and tell us not to do it again. The girls had come today to stay and have a pajama party because it was Cindy's birthday. They'd bought a chocolate cake and everything. Cindy's parents were too busy to stay with her and celebrate so it came down to us to give her a party for her seventeenth birthday.

That's how I found myself singing, "Happy birthday to you, Cin!"

*Thank god I thought about buying her a present for her, and the other present is ready in my bedroom too.* I thought as I sang.

First thing first, I instructed Goldie to go sweep my bedroom for recording, listening and video devices that didn't belong to me. It was time for Cindy to join the powered people's ranks.

**# # #**

**(Cindy Moon) **

**08:23 PM**

After Jean gave her the present, she kissed Cindy chastely and whispered to her that the best had yet to come. It was weird to think that Jean was younger than Cindy; the redhead was acting more mature than the girls in her group. It was one of the things Cindy admired in Jean, she took the decision but often deferred to what she wanted, not wanting to be too controlling; though she was too enthusiastic to come to her defense.

Cindy felt like she won the lottery when she accepted to go out with her, though she had done some things she wasn't proud about, like getting Gwen to back off or enticing Jean with her body and kisses to get her to say yes more easily. The asian girl remembered how easy it had been to lead the redhead into the girls toilets and make her interest known. Since then, Jean had stopped letting her gaze wander to other girls and… boys. Jean liked boys too, Cindy lamented.

It caused her to be wary of everyone and to be more affectionate than usual and show off their relationship. Somehow no one blinked at their preferences being exposed and Cindy had no doubt Jean had done something to avoid people ostracizing the two of them and stop them from thinking too deeply about their relationship. Without a doubt it was related to her telepathy, if Gwen ever asked her about her girlfriend's powers she would not volunteer anything, telepathy seemed to freak out normal people.

Cindy looked at Jean who was taking a blindfold out of her closet then walking toward her. The black haired girl looked at the athletic body of her girlfriend in admiration and... lust. She looked strong, fit and predatory. Jean was so strong, physically and in terms of combat power and it made Cindy believe she wasn't worthy enough of the attention of such a person like Jean Grey. "Here, let me put this around your eyes." Jean had a solid red bandana in her left hand.

Cindy obeyed and turned to give Jean her back. Then she felt her girlfriend dexterously blindfold her before making her turn again. There was complete silence now, only the noise of their breathing. Cindy felt a tad excited, was Jean going to touch her with everyone still in the house? It was kinky and… risky.

"Say, Cin. If I could give you powers, would you want them?"

Cindy could feel her girlfriend's breath on her face, it smelled of the coke juice and strawberry jam that was hidden in the chocolate cake Patsy had bought with her own pocket money.

Her brain froze at the question. "Huh?"

Jean asked again, "Do you want powers?"

Cindy daren't hope, being equal with Jean was one thing she yearned for. It wasn't surprising that her voice cracked when she said, "Can I be like... you?"

Jean chuckled a bit. "Yes." was her instant answer. She added, "Well you'd have to work hard to be as awesome as I am, but I believe in you."

Cindy gasped, utterly delighted by this life changing prospect. *Oh, yes, yes. We could help each other better!* And maybe this way, Cindy wouldn't feel so useless when someone tried to come take the woman she loved. She sucked in air, finally realizing her feelings at this moment for the redhead.

A moment later Cindy felt Jean's lips on her own, the kiss deepened and their tongue twined for a minute or so before Jean broke it first to say, "I love you too."

*Damn telepath.* Cindy said in her heart, though she understood that it was more her girlfriend's empathy that made her read everyone like a book when she was not using her mind surfing.

"Give me your hand." Jean commanded.

Cindy gave her right hand instantly. Jean's hand felt warm in hers. They stood like this for another thirty seconds, and she understood that Jean was offering her an out- that she could still refuse this. Cindy tightened her hold on Jean's hand, then she heard the giggle of the redhead who finally asked, "Do you trust me?"

Her answer was instant."With my life, I already did it once, remember?"

A brief smile blossomed on the redhead's face before her expression shifted into a serious one. "It's going to hurt for a bit, Cindy brace yourself." Jean warned.

And then Cindy felt pain on her hand, "Ouch!" she almost smacked her left hand on the back of her right to smack away what bit her.

Jean stopped her, though, holding onto her left wrist. "Don't kill 42 please, it's my pet spider." She said, then the blindfold undid itself, or Jean untied it with her TK.

Cindy furrowed her brow at Jean who looked at her with a strange smile. Then she complained, "But it hurt!"

Jean laughed. "Of course, powers are a curse, Cindy. And getting them is a trial unto itself."

The asian girl's vision became blurry and she began to sway on her feet. "I-I don't feel so good, honey."

Jean clicked her tongue and mumbled. "Oh, it started faster than I thought it would. Let's put you into bed."

Cindy leaned into Jean's embrace and slowly waggled her eyebrows. "Normally… I would be thrilled to get into bed with you."

The asian girl saw Jean flinch, then felt a strange vibration coming from her girlfriend's body and where was this nice smell coming from? Cindy smelled Jean and realized it came from her, then the smell disappeared.

Jean lifted her in a princess carry and walked toward her bed. "Me too, however. You must sleep."

Cindy kissed Jean's neck and complained, "But I will miss the pajama party."

That same sweet smell came from Jean again, Cindy was really intrigued; was it a new perfume? If it was, could she steal it from her girlfriend?

"I-it doesn't matter, I will explain what's happening to everyone. Cindy?" Jean stuttered. This was the first time Cindy heard her girlfriend do that.

"Yeah?" Cindy mumbled.

Even with her wobbly vision, Cindy saw Jean's panty-dropping smile. Jean's bedsheet moved, then the redhead placed her into her bed and began to undress her with her TK. Almost absently Jean said, "Thanks for trusting me. I will try to not disappoint you."

"Now sleep." Jean touched her forehead.

"I love-" But she couldn't finish her sentence as darkness closed on her and pulled her oh so slowly down into unconsciousness, the last thing she saw was her redhead lips coming down to kiss her again.

**# # #**

**Back with Jean…  
November 4th, 1996**

**06:01 AM**

The pajama party had been a great success. We enjoyed a game of truth or dare, eating snacks and drinking cola. Then we watched movies in my bedroom that sported a TV screen and a DVD player. But there weren't a lot of movies that had been converted from VHS to DVD yet, only the most recently released ones.

I woke up with Cindy in my arms, She was sweating profusely in her sleep and ran a fever; but I held onto her to warm her up. I could feel her change all the while and it resulted in me not sleeping for even a moment last night. Last night, I discovered that my self control around a Cindy who hinted at sex was barely there. I don't know how but she made me almost take her on her offer. Something to check when she woke up.

I slowly extricate myself from the arms of my hot girlfriend, though I lingered by kissing her cheek. I levitated myself and shifted my position from horizontal to vertical once I was out of the bed. Taking care of not landing, I floated toward the bathroom's door while avoiding the girls sleeping on the spare mattress on the ground. A soft chuckle left me when I saw Patsy grasping Gwen like she was a teddy bear.

Twenty five minutes after finishing my ablutions, I made the high tech suitcase that Phil had given me yesterday float toward me. It opened with a hiss once I put it on the ground by pressing on the manual lock button on the top of the case. And here were my armored underclothes. The leather like fabric was black and soft to the touch, somewhat stretchy.

There was a how-to-use manual for them, I made it float thirty centimeters away from my face and began to read it, turning the page each twenty seconds, speed reading through it. Once done, I placed it inside the case.

I floated to my walk-in closet and opened one of my undies drawer and grabbed some black panties and a sports bra with my TK. Putting them on, I then slowly donned the underclothes that on me looked like female surfwear. It was short sleeved and stopped at my knees, covering the essentials.

"Huh, I will need to go back to less flamboyant outfits." That was a damn shame.

"Jean, what are you wearing?" I heard the somnolent voice of Jessica behind me.

Jessica was in a white cotton shirt and panties; She wiped her eyes with her hand, then looked at me from head to toes. "You going on the beach or something?"

"Or something." I answered, rolling my eyes.

A smile slowly appeared on her face, then her expression turned into concern, it showed in her tone. "Is Cindy alright?"

My girlfriend was still asleep, but I felt that she would wake up soon. "Yes she has stopped shaking, I think the bite ritual was a success. We just need for her to wake up."

A red shirt and black jeans flew toward me, I put them on with my TK while Jessica stared at me with jealousy and a bit of wonder at the speed I was doing things.

"So you got a magical spider who can give spider powers like Peter's with a bite…"

I wasn't going to correct her and tell her it was a radioactive spider instead; there was a change she'd react badly and want to stomp on 42.

Jessica crossed her arms and asked, "Are you going to let Gwen and Patsy in on that?"

Goldie manifested and oozed from my skin in drips of golden goo and covered my entire body and absorbed my clothes to then morph into them. **You are a possessive little thing, Goldie.** She felt snug on me. I decided that I would give her extra chocolate before leaving.

Jessica didn't even react to Goldie's antics anymore. Their first meeting had been hilarious where I got to see Jessica panic and scream about an alien monster possessing her best friend. However, she didn't fear Goldie anymore now that she knew what a Klyntar was but that didn't mean she wanted to touch her.

Problem was, Goldie liked Jessica and made her know it by often wanting to cover her in herself too. She was discovering what friendship was and considered my family hers. I still didn't introduce her to my parents; they would freak. SHIELD would take her away from me, so I started taking out their bugs and recording devices. Goldie ate them all and was full of them. Since the symbiotes could store things in a weird interdimensional pocket, Goldie was now filled with various little knick knacks.

I finally answered my friend who was still waiting for an explanation. "No, they will not, the spider can only bite one person. Weird things happen if it bites another."

She raised an eyebrow. "Then?"

I sighed and continued, but didn't clarify what would happen. "I can't tell you that, but I assure you that I have a plan for Patsy and Gwen, I will give them something akin to the super soldier serum. But something better, you'll see."

What was I going to do with a bunch of super powered girls? Security, they will be safe right? I felt Jessica began to think fast and draw some conclusions from simple facts and events, it was incredible for someone who needed to jumpstart their brain with a cup of coffee in the morning. "Where did you get it?"

She knew. I don't know how but she already knew. Jessica stared at me in expectancy. I could dissemble or evade the question, but I knew that she would never give up in wanting to know, so I didn't bother telling her a lie. I never lied to her. I just hoped she didn't get closer to the source of the events that led me to raiding Oscorp.

"I raided Oscorp and stole everything in their R&D department." I revealed. Goldie formed a trendy dark leather jacket over the clothes she simulated.

[_Assertions_: Perfect we look.] The symbiote declared.

I turned to the floor length mirror, inspected myself and nodded in satisfaction. *Yes we do, my friend.*

Jessica walked to me, placing her hand on my shoulders to spin me to her. "So that was really you!"

An evil grin crossed my face. "Yeah, I will explain everything to you later, okay?"

We didn't have the time to get into this, I didn't want to tell her about the Osborns. I didn't feel guilty or ashamed of what I'd done, but losing my friends over them didn't sit well with me. I'd tell her eventually but she needed to mentally toughen up first to accept my actions. I felt like an eel as I was blatantly manipulating my friend.

Wow, I was turning into Professor Xavier! *Eww!*

Jessica pointed a finger at me, levelling me with a sharp glare. "Fine, but you better remember this."

Quick! I needed to divert the conversation. Just as I thought that, the smell of delicious waffles came from the kitchen downstairs. I nodded at Jessica and watched my alarm clock. "I will go see what mom made for breakfast."

She did the same and looked at my alarm clock near the bed and her eyes widened. "Oh my gosh, I need to shower fast!" Jessica disappeared as fast as Speedy Gonzales having smelled cheese.

The other girls began to wake up, and it was later as I went down the stairs I felt the war for the bathroom start. I was glad that I went first. As I walked through the door of the kitchen cum dining room, I saw mom do her magic cooking and the already piled waffles, jug of orange juice and cereals on the table.

"Mom?"

Elaine Grey turned and smiled at me. She raised the big spoon in her hand and pointed at me, her smile wide. "Ah, Jean you are awake, come help me set the table."

I saluted her military style and shouted, "Yes captain!"

As I walked to the tall cabinet, my jacket morphed into an apron, on it was written the iconic 'Kiss the cook'. I took bowls from the kitchen furniture and floated them on the table. Meanwhile, mom looked rather unsettled at this new ability to morph clothes- something I'd been doing a lot. She shook hers and returned to her waffle making. "One day you'll tell me how you are doing this with your clothes."

Despite me, I emitted a bell-like laugh at that. "Sure, after we aren't in SHIELD's custody."

Mom stopped and turned to me, her expression thoughtful. "It's that secret?"

I shrugged. "Yes." I made a move to change the subject. "By the way mom, what are we going to do for dinner tonight?"

Mom gave me a look, then smiled a sweet yet scary smile."Baby, you are too young to try changing the subject on me."

I froze, lowered my eyes and mumbled, "I have to start somewhere…"

Never could I pull a fast one on that woman. Despite not being a telepath, she could honestly read me like a book sometimes.

"Sure, sure, baby." Mom chuckled, her left penciled blonde eyebrow raising in doubt.

She pissed me off. "Mom! I am not a baby anymore!" I shouted at her. But in the end, it was more to assure myself of that fact, I tried to be mature and responsible.

Elaine chuckled and waved at me dismissively. "You'll always be my baby Jean, no matter how old you get."

_Hmph_. I quickly finished setting the table and went upstairs to check on the girls. As if they were waiting for me, they all hurtled down the stairs as if the devil was after them. Gwen stopped, letting the Jones sisters pass by and asked, "Hey Jean, is breakfast ready?"

I nodded. "Yeah it is, go and leave some for me?"

She grinned impishly and left as she was saying, "No promises!"

I rolled my eyes, and went up the stairs. *Urgh, I better go wake up Cindy fast before they eat everything.*

A moment later I was standing before my bedroom door. It was finally time to test if Cindy had succeeded in getting her powers. I projected feelings of fear with my projective empathy. One second later I heard a scream, and a big '_Bump' _noise in my room. I opened the door and looked at Cindy clinging to the ceiling. "Hello, beautiful."

"Jean? I don't know how to come down!" Cindy panicked, her expression soaked in distress as she looked at me with wide eyes.

*Was it wrong that seeing her make such an expression excites me?* I smiled and spoke soothingly to her. "Just relax, Cin." I said as I reeled in the projective empathy.

Her breathing settled back to normal and I saw her looking at me with trepidation. Then her eyes became slightly scary as she realized what I did. "It was you wasn't it?"

"I don't know what you are talking about." I tried to play innocent, *Deflect, deflect.*

It was not effective as Cindy shouted at me at the top of her lunge, "Jeaaaaan!"

Knowing she had my number I rushed out, "Come down, go to the bathroom, there's breakfast waiting for you." And stepped back to the door.

She glared at me, murderous. "Jean it was you, I knew it!"

"Later!" I exited the room, waved at Cindy who finally managed to come down and ran after me. I quickly shoot the door. I cackled evilly and went downstairs, satisfied that I didn't lead my girlfriend astray. One down, two more to go. Gwen and Patsy were next.

**# # #**

**Midtown High school  
08:20 AM**

Cindy was still mad at me and steadily ignored me for my prank. Okay, it wasn't much of a prank. Cindy wasn't used to superpowered ones, like I did with Jessica. She would come around; she'd already found out that she had a danger-sense, organic webbing generation through her fingertips and she could also make claws-like extrusions from them. She also got the normal package of spider powers such as wall-crawling, superhuman equilibrium, agility, strength, speed and other types of powers that weren't her iconic one.

I think she had her **Silk **power-set combined with those of Miles Morales. It was something that we would need to put to the test and I know only one person that I trusted enough to help us in that endeavor. *Elektra Sensei to the rescue! I sense that I will suffer when I do reach out.*

I leaned against the wall of our usual meeting place where we were waiting for school to commence. Jessica and Patsy shared earphones, listening to rock music. As for Peter and Gwen, they were in their own little pink world, french kissing while hiding behind us.

Feeling a bit lonely, I turned to the love of my life and poked her. "Hey."

Cindy ignored me, opting to put distance between us. I followed her and took her hand in mine. "C'mon, I apologize."

She wrenched her hand from mine with a strength she never possessed before. When I said she'd got super strength, even I was surprised by just how strong she was. Fortunately I had my symbiote enhanced strength or else I would have flown away. Cindy was clearly not in control of her abilities.

I sighed and I wouldn't say I begged, but a plea fell from my lips,"Please, Cin."

Cindy strongly tried to not look at me, why? This couldn't be borne! I didn't like it. "Go away, I am mad at you."

"Ah." She finally spoke to me! Progress. I smiled and poked her arm again.

"Still not talking." She said again while watching the buses disburse more students.

With a cocky and victorious tone I said, "You just did, sweetie." Then I adopted a more grovelling attitude. "I am sorry for doing that to you, I admit that it was a bit mean."

Cindy finally turned to me, looking me in the eyes. I felt like I was being judged and weighted for thirty seconds or so. She sighed heavily and crossed her arm over her expensive black and white jacket and said the word I've been waiting for . "Okay, I forgive you."

It was like seeing the light after being in the darkness for so long, and smelling fresh air coming out of a tunnel. I gave her my best smile and said eagerly, "Then!"

My girlfriend then pouted, giving me her back. "But I am still mad at you."

So this is what it feels? To see freedom but a second later be dragged back into the fiery pits of hell? I didn't care what I had to do to be out of her black book. I swallowed my pride and said conciliatorially, "W-what can I do, to make you less mad? I'd do anything."

I felt like I walked into a trap when Cindy turned to me, smiled and sweetly said, "Anything?"

I looked around me, feeling cornered. "Hum, yes."

Cindy walked toward me predatorily, touched my face with one of her hands, slowly patted my cheek and said, "Remember those words, Jeanie."

I gulped hard as her amber irises bore into mine. She suckered me into this huh? I am female! I should have seen this ploy from a mile away, I am even a telepath! *What the hell?*

"Okay…"

And this is how I basically signed away the places where we would go for our next dates and I also had to give her combat training. I frankly avoided pissing Cindy off for the next ten minutes as she cuddled happily next to me as if nothing happened. It was awkward at first, but we began to speak about her new powers and what she would do with them.

Cindy wasn't hero material, that I knew. At least, not yet. She had the hallmark of being a vigilante like me. I could sense it in her, she was a predator and her powers had amplified this part of her. She was still my playful and cute Cindy though.

The bell finally rang and I retrieved my backpack from the pavement. Cindy took hers and left first after giving me a quick kiss. We didn't have the same classes. Jessica and I had PE today and we had to play down our strength, speed and agility all the time, we spent this class playing mostly. We were the last to enter the school building, but I decided to go to the gymnasium directly.

Walking on the way there, suddenly I found myself somewhere else. Looking behind me, I saw that I went through a golden portal opening in my school's garden that closed all of a sudden. I instantly ramped up the multiple layers of telepathic shield and higher end mental defenses that I had developed. My hands suddenly covered with cosmic fire as I put myself in a combat stance, ready for anything.

"None of that will be needed, Miss Grey." A female voice rang from up the stairs.

The skylight opened and then illuminated the hall. I shaded my eyes with one of my hands and blinked a few times, my eyes taking time to get used to the light again. A woman wearing some kind of Jedi-like outfit based on a kimono appeared and descended the stairs. "Who are you and where did you take me?"

"You will know in another ten seconds." She replied with confidence. Then, she remained silent. It was enough for my eyes to normalize to the light and what I saw was a familiar woman. "OH SHIT."

She smiled at me, I couldn't read her either! What- wait it was normal; she's the goddamn Ancient One! Damn you Marvel, why couldn't I have the old and wise Doctor Strange from the get go? "What does the Sorceress Supreme want with me?" I still had one of my hands on fire, this was the first time it happened, but I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

The bald woman smiled patronizingly at me and continued to descend the stairs gracefully. "You fascinate me Miss Grey. I almost cannot see what is going to happen next when I am this close to you. And the fact despite never meeting you, you know of me, how?"

So she wasn't going to snuff me out or banish me into another dimension? That was nice to know. I could work with a reasonable Ancient One. "Huh does that mean that you brought me here for your own curiosity? You know I have… school, right?"

She batted away my argument. "A mere trifle; you are ahead in every of your classes, your GPA can take it."

My eyes widened, then the surprise I felt shifted to displeasure. "That's mean." I stated as I glared at her, making my other fire lit hand extinguish itself. I didn't feel any bad intentions from the woman. Even though I couldn't read her thoughts, I could still rely on my empathy, unless she deliberately fed it false information… I realized that I am still in deep trouble.

Ancient One laughed. "I know, and I like seeing this scared expression on your face. But you truly have nothing to fear, I invited you under the hospice of hospitality and graciousness."

A golden light shone between us when she said this, and I understood immediately that she was tying her own hands. As long as I was showing courtesy and respect, nothing truly bad would happen to me.

I stared at her, my shoulders not as tense as it was a few moments ago. Still, I kept a lead on my mental defenses just in case. There was also sympathetic magic to worry about, I should not leave anything that belongs to me here. I covered myself into my TK dermal armor to avoid any loss of DNA or hair. "Why are you acting as if we were friends, already?"

Ancient One came closer. "I strive to acquaint myself with future important figures. Think of it as networking." She moved her right hand as if she was doing a sleight of hand and a cup of tea appeared. "Can I invite you for a cuppa?"

All that magic was making me nervous. Not to mention the fact she'd just conjured things out of thin air to keep me from finding any footing to take control of the situation.

"I-" A refusal was on the tip of my tongue but we suddenly found ourselves somewhere else.

My reticence melted like snow under the sun when a slender yet tastefully ornate white table and chair popped out of nowhere. It was loaded with cakes and biscuits and a porcelain white tea-pot. Then suddenly we weren't in the mansion, but somewhere outside with beautiful rolling plains, we were sheltered under a red pagoda garden.

I turned to her and asked, "Did you just teleport us?"

"What makes you think that, Miss Grey?" Ancient One quirked her lips up in amusement.

I frowned. "Call me Jean, please." Then I looked outside the pagoda. The blue sky was full of fluffy clouds and there were grassy plains everywhere I could see. "And this makes me think you transported us somewhere else." I pointed a thumb at our surroundings.

"As you wish, I shall use your name, Jean. And, no, I didn't transport us anywhere, this is just an elaborate illusion.." She slightly bowed her head and sat at the table.

I deployed my awareness around me, and I felt the wind, the insects all around us, the tall swaying grasses and animals skittering among them. "But… it feels so real."

Ancient One took a sip of her tea and explained, "This is magic in action, a bit better than your own telepathic illusions. Don't worry, your senses are being fed false information, and you may one day reach this degree of mastery. It's just that I lived far longer than you and am more adept at such child-like spells."

I sat at the table, taking care of not disturbing it. I recognized that I was outmatched and there was really nothing I could do to escape. I had an inkling that she wanted much from this little get together. Sighing, I took the tea cup, snuffing the red and black liquid inside it. It smelled delicious. There were scones in the middle of the table on a plate and I took one and began to eat it. *Hmm, cream scones.*

"Your presence in this reality is a conundrum, Jean. Your mere existence is a nexus of change, the fates don't seem to tie you down, my gift of precognition has been showing me future paths that simply went up in smoke. It's as if you were creating ripples across time and space and shifting events and playing billiard with causality." the Ancient One began speaking about inane things that I understood only because of the scientific knowledge I had pilfered. Otto had understood Quantum Physics and theory related to time travel.

So I was basically a blind spot to her and she had to use her precog ability around me to see what might happen, but even that isn't sure to work. I acted and broke canon events such as me joining the X-men. "Huh, I am not aware of doing anything as grandiose as you are saying." Deny, deny, deny!

The Ancient One's eyebrows lifted, a smile playing on her lips as she dipped a biscuit on her tea. "Oh of course you are aware, for example, you saved a man's family recently. He should have gone on a path of blood and thorns, righting wrongs and pursuing criminals and monsters in human flesh relentlessly." She took a bite of her biscuit, her eyes on me as I choked on my scone, and began to beat on my chest to make the food pass. I wasn't going to die so stupidly!

She laughed. "I see that you are aware of what I am saying."

_Cough_. "Okay, let's put our cards on the table then." I breathed in, then exhaled. "I don't know exactly what I am but when I was very young, I realized that I am _misplaced _and possess memories that were not mine at first. Did I assimilate them from another life? It seems so..."

Ancient One tilted her head, then her eyes shone with gold luster for an instant. Her grin then grew wider as though she'd won the lottery."It explains why your soul is unbalanced, no… not just one, there are two souls in your body." Her grin morphed into a frown. "How is that possible?" She asked aloud.

I shrugged. "Who knows…" Nibbling on a biscuit, I hoped she'd drop this line of inquiry.

Ancient One stood up and walked up to my side of the table, staring at me with her eyes shining gold. I got out of my seat and kept the chair between us. I felt as if she saw more than she let on which sparked a ball of terror to rise within me. This emotion wasn't mine but what my soul sister was feeling.

"Is this the person in your soul-sea feeding you information? This is the only way for you to know things beyond your ken." The Sorceress Supreme never missed anything. Playing dumb didn't save me.

Of course I kept mum, not wanting anyone to know about other-self.

She had an inscrutable expression pasted on her face. "I see, do you want me to take her out?"

"NO." I stumbled back. "Please no, I… she's family, please don't take her away." I pleaded.

She tilted her head in interest. "You care about her, it also means that she isn't possessing you. Great this might not be as bad as I thought."

Ancient One then blurred toward me, palm out and struck my chest making my astral form and other self present outside our body. She was the same older woman, two inches taller than I, with tanned skin and curly shoulder length braided hair. Glasses lay on the bridge of her nose, and she was dressed in the same outfit as me- a red shirt and black jeans. The difference was in how voluptuous our bodies were where she was a very sensual woman, I was still a duckling. "_Shit. What did you do that for, woman?!"_ Other self shouted at the Ancient One.

Ancient One chuckled, looking at me with mirth-filled eyes. "I can see where your more temperamental tendencies come from." She returned her gaze to my other self. "Who might you be, Miss...?"

Other self raised her chin and crossed her arms under her ample chest. "_Does giving you my name change anything that might happen here?"_

Ancient One nodded, her kimono-like outfit swaying under the breeze. "It will certainly make your case less complicated."

"_I… my name was Emily."_ Emily… uncrossed her arms and placed them on the side of her body.

She looked at me, worried. It was the first time I'd heard it since Emily never told me her name. When I was barely four years old, I always called her big sister or other endearing names. I smiled, it didn't matter; she had saved my life more than once with her wisdom. Emily smiled back at me, understanding that we were cool.

Ancient One reacted to our exchange. "Oh so you defer to young Jean as the one who is in control? Why are you so self effacing? You exist after all."

Emily turned to the Ancient One, shurgging. "_It's Jean's body, and I am just sharing soul space."_

She didn't say that she could take control, but she had no intention of ever doing so. I asked her why one day and she told me that she wasn't a body snatcher, that her time has passed and she just wanted to protect me, the best she could as she knew what fate would befell me.

"You seem to really care for her, like a sister. You are an extra-dimensional soul and you seem to have mixed with young Jean's here." The ancient one moved her hand in wave-like gestures, her eyes still possessing that golden hue. "Hmm, I see there's no way to separate you. Your existence seems to be tied together."

Emily huffed and said, "_Yeah, now can I go back doing my life coach thing, please?"_

The Ancient One nodded."I shall allow it."

Emily turned into a ball of red light and dived into my body that was still standing upright; Goldie's job, she was to be an overachiever like that.

_Hmph_. Bossypants. Emily said through our link.

The Ancient One nodded and looked thoughtful as she said aloud, "Fascinating, today's revelation has simply been extraordinary." Then her eyes found me, with a gesture she helped me back to my body. When I became cognizant, she addressed me. "I understand why you are such a special young woman, Jean. As long as you live, you are going to create ripples in the eddies of times, those changes might not be always for good alas."

I finally decided to ask the question that had been burning my tongue since I'd entered what I believe to be the Sanctum Sanctorum. "Are you going to kill me?"

The Ancient One's eyes widened, and she vehemently shook her head. "Kill you? My goodness no! I would never do that."

"But isn't it your job to kill people who threaten the balance of the world and take care of extradimensional threats?"

She immediately came into my personal space and put a hand on my shoulders. "You are not a threat, Jean. You are just a young woman who is destined to do great and sometimes **terrible **things. You and Emily were linked for a reason and I am not about to mess with the powerful entity who seems to have placed you in this reality."

I knew it! I knew that there must have been a reason why my life wasn't as shitty as it should have been! The Ancient One took a pocket watch from the inside of her kimono clothes and nodded.

"This has been a good day, we will see each other another time Jean. I hope you won't be afraid of me as much as you were today."

*Yeah, right.* I rolled my eyes. She sent shivers down my spine.

"Before you leave, there's something I can tell you that might be relevant to you for the near future, take it as a free advice my dear; you need to reach balance. You and Emily can't stay apart for so long, your auras are out of sync. You'll have to reach out for each other and become one, one day."

I frowned, not understanding what the hell she was saying. "I don't understand what you mean? We are already one."

Ancient One tipped her chin down in a nod again. "You'll understand when the time comes."

I didn't notice the golden portal forming behind before, the Sorceress Supreme pushed me with telekinesis inside it and I was suddenly in the same place I was before I arrived. Midtown high school's gardens. The immortal woman waved me goodbye and closed the portal.

"Well, fuck my life."

**# # #**

**November, 11th 1996  
Elektra's dojo  
03:01 PM**

I evaded Cindy's butterfly kick, and attempted to hit her with a palm strike while she recovered from the highly risky maneuver. She was aware of the incoming hit and moved away agilely by somersaulting back. I followed her with a text book flying kick, but she caught my leg with her hand and slammed me on the mats.

I rolled and jumped back, avoiding an axe kick that would have clipped me on the head. Goldie reacted and shot from my left arm and caught Cindy's right hand and pulled her toward me as I cocked my right arm and punched her in the solar plexus. I jumped, pirouetting and came down on her with my own axe kick that she evaded by rolling on the side.

"Stop." Elektra's voice commanded, a hint of steel present in her tone.

I stopped and released a breath, then relaxed. Cindy stayed on the ground, her ragged breathing coming fast. Elektra walked from the side of the mats that gave a view on the open sliding door letting us see the skyscrapers all around her building. Elektra wore her ninjutsu attire that left nothing to the imagination, however, her beauty didn't take away the fact that she looked dangerous.

Elektra's face became marred with frustration. "Jean you let Goldie intervene, again."

I shrugged helplessly. "She has a mind of her own."

In combat situations it was difficult to command my symbiote who often took independent action from mine.

[_Complaint_: Training I should be, too.] Everyone heard the symbiote speak in their minds, and reacted to the female voice with different levels of annoyance.

This was a recent change where Goldie had developed telepathy just like me, rendering her able to communicate with everyone. I was discovering a lot of new abilities with every day that passed by with her sharing space with me in my body. We had finally and completely bonded as klyntar symbiote and host some days ago. Goldie was now able to hide in my bloodstream and I was allowed to see her racial memories that were just... extensive.

Goldie's golden Klyntar face oozed out of me, then her body followed and placed herself at my side in a vague feminine humanoid silhouette.

Elektra's patience was running thin, her eyes skirting from me to my companion. "Still, Goldie, this is a fight between your host and Cindy. Sometimes Jean won't be able to depend on you, it is good for her to develop individual skills."

[_Smug_: Never alone Host Jean shall be, that is why participating I should be.]

*When is she going to stop speaking like Yoda?* With this I thought I sent a picture of a tiny yoda to my symbiote.

[_Indignation and sarcasm_: Like an old goblin do I look?] Her anger was directed at me for a moment before it shifted at Sensei.

Elektra wiped her eyes for a moment, acted as if she was seeing double, then shook her head and massaged her temples. "She's pretty stubborn Jean, you need to teach her better."

Just like children, Goldie needed strict handling, and lines of morality placed that she shouldn't be crossing in the event that I died and she bonded with another. But so far my golden girl didn't do anything reprehensible or scary. She was affectionate and cuddly and just, maybe, a tad possessive? "Hey, Goldie is a good girl."

"Obviously not." Elektra harrumphed and rolled her eyes.

Cindy was finally sitting upright and her breathing had returned to a steady pace. Elektra looked at my girlfriend with a sage and patient smile, completely different from her attitude with me. I think that was a sliver of jealousy that slithered up my spine just then. I'd felt like this before when some of my friends found my big sisters cool and wanted to hang around them more.

"Cindy, this was a good showing compared with your first fight with Jean." Sensei admitted to her.

My girlfriend smiled at the praise and raised her chin at me in a taunt. Had I forgotten to mention Cindy's crazy competitive streak? Even with me being her girlfriend didn't make it diminish. Though I felt that it was good that the two of us could share this, it'd reinforce our bond even more.

Elektra walked up to Cindy and held her hand out. Cindy took it and was pulled up on her feet. As she did that, sensei began her assessment of her current combat style. "You went out of your way to always be mobile, that was good."

I was acting like a tank because of my strength and new found reinforced physical attribute. I surmised as I did my self-assessment. Even so, Elektra continued. "Your build and powers are geared toward agility, speed and cunning, don't enter in direct strength competition with Jean in your sparring session, she has become too strong with Goldie's physical is quite unfair in my opinion." Elektra faced me with a scowl.

As if it was my fault what Goldie enhanced on my body... "Don't be a hater, sensei!" I whined.

[_Complaint_: Hater everyone is.] Goldie waved her oozing arms at everyone in the room.

As proof of this, Cindy and Elektra proceeded to ignore her antics. Goldie mimicked my body language and how I carried myself, it was troubling sometimes; did I really act like that? Seeing it from my perspective I was surprised no one slapped me yet. *Was I always this... smug?*

My girlfriend looked between me and Elektra, her cute hands forming a fist, her knuckles cracking. "How did Jean get so strong? I mean she moves somewhat like you, Elektra sensei. Has it really been only two months of training?"

Elektra swaggered before me and poked a finger on my collar bone. "You know Jean is a cheater that cheats, she replicated my combat skills and knowledge with her telepathy. However, she has yet to reach master level. Right now, she is firmly stuck on the journeyman path."

I tried to bat away her offending finger, and she chuckled when I couldn't catch it and turned her back to me to look at Cindy.

The asian girl's face took on a look full of determination. "How long will I have to practice to get as strong?"

Elektra's smile became predatory. Oh shit! Cindy, run! I made eyes at my girlfriend to leave or run away or something! There was a confused expression on her face when she looked at me, but she shrugged and ignored me.

Sensei who had followed the byplay gave me a strong glare for trying to ruin her games. I averted my eyes before watching her turn to Cindy with the same scary smile. "With how smart and gifted you are? I give you another six months to reach a decent proficiency. You will be able to take on special force soldiers in no time. But super powered people like Jean? Train more, darling."

Cindy looked at me with a challenging expression. "I will catch up to her; I don't like that disparity between us."

I interrupted that; I didn't like being a goal for her to reach. "What about hockey practice?"

Cindy seemed stricken having forgotten all about hockey and getting lost in the giddy feeling of having super powers. She was letting her grades slide as well as she sneaked out to get training in her spider powers with Peter. I wasn't jealous, not at all;,but if Peter ever made a move on her I would have his head. I still don't know if there's such a thing as the bride spider totem for my Cindy, but if she ever got caught up into that spiderverse shit? The Morluns were going to wish they had never entered this reality.

Web Slinging was something of a rush and Cindy being an adrenaline junky and a little predator loved this feeling of being in suspension and defying gravity, it was more gratifying to her than ice hockey. "I can do the two, we have found out that I got superhuman stamina and toughness, remember."

"Among other things." I nodded.

Cindy's body was physically tougher and more resistant to impact forces than most humans. We discovered she had the ability to withstand great impacts, such as being thrown through a plate-glass window. Just don't ask me how we discovered this…

Then there was the Spider-camouflage, the same ability as Miles Morales! Cindy including her clothing can blend into her surroundings, allowing her to sneak up on her enemies -it was Peter and her playing hide and seek- or, in some cases, flee from them. The resulting effect closely resembles that of invisibility. The most notable of her power was bio-electrokinesis; like Miles Morales I think she possessed control over the natural electricity her body produces.

We barely scratched the surface of what she could do. I hoped to help her become the best spider girl ever. Elektra sensei made us spar again, and this time Goldie behaved after she threatened us with one thousand pushups and to give me even more chores to do in the dojo. Carrot and stick, right? I got punched in the face and I sent Cindy flying as I knew she could take the super strength Goldie conferred me. It was 04:00 pm when ninja school ended for the day.

When we were in the locker room Elektra had there in the back room, Cindy covered herself in spider thread after taking a shower, she expertly formed a costume made entirely of silky spider thread and put the bandana she stole from me around her mouth only showing half her face.

"Why do I want to take you on the bench when you wear your makeshift costume?" I asked, my cheeks stained crimson.

I almost told her that I didn't want to see her leaving in that getup, but she knew how to defend herself now. I hope Peter wouldn't see her like this and that she will simply go home instead of hanging out with him.

"I don't think you're ready for what I truly want to do to you Jean, this body's too bootylicious for you, baby." Cindy sing-songed, slapping her ass, making me laugh and copy her.

It was strange to me that Destiny's Child had songs that they were supposed to have released later in their career, but I didn't care, they were one of my favorite girl bands. Once I was finished applying makeup, Goldie formed clothes on my body. Goldie surprised me when she gave me a black tank top, tight jeans and combat boots, the final touch was a red leather jacket with a black tactical belt. She had copied most of my wardrobe by this time and she needn't to be cleaned, I would never need to buy clothes again if I didn't know that symbiotes had weaknesses.

"Hmm, why did you choose this?"

[_Uncertain_: I know not, a feeling I have.] My companion symbiote explained.

I would be prudent on the way home, you don't dismiss hunches like that from a part psychic organism like this. "Say do you still have the weapons you stole from the SHIELD Headquarter?"

Goldie began to make a mental inventory of what she was storing and showed me in my mind everything she had been stealing or storing on demand. I needed to do something about her kleptomania. There was a tactical knife, three P226 pistols with ammo boxes and some medicine and bandages, clothes, accessories and shoes, packed food and the GSM burner phone I bought for myself last week.

A finger poked my arm, I turned to Cindy who was the offender. "Jean, we are leaving."

I glanced at my wristwatch , noting the time. "Oh."

Cindy laughed a little bit at me for being distracted. "You were speaking with Goldie again, what did she say that distracted you so?"

"She told me she was having a bad feeling about something. And as she is part psionic, I think she's onto something." Maybe it was a latent low precognition ability that Goldie possessed, we are still barely scratching the surface of what she could do.

Cindy's playful tone switched to a more serious one. "Do you want me to leave with you? Maybe this feeling... it's about an event around you."

I shrugged, zipping up my jacket. "No, it's better if you go do your own thing. I will be surrounded by SHIELD agents and I don't want them to get into your business."

Cindy tilted her head. I could only see half her face but she was an open book to me; she had inimical feelings about the organization that was exploiting me, at least I think that was her reason for not trusting them. "You hate them." I mused, speaking aloud what she felt.

She said nothing, simply making hyper dense claws on her fingers that shone red under the light. When I saw them, I thought Cindy should learn a palm and eagle style Kung Fu. It would be better for her in the long run. I would find another way to power her up; spider powers weren't enough.

I sighed, she was right to not trust them. I chose to tell her what's what. "The only people in SHIELD I like are Phil, Peggy and I think Alice and Eve." Reaching up, I pulled my hair into a low ponytail. Cindy was familiar with the names since I'd touched up on who they were before. "Your two new agent friends? Since when?"

I praised them, gushing, "They are fun to be around. We had a knife throwing contest the last time we were in HQ. You can trust them, they have deep principles."

Cindy pouted at me, still stuck on the fact that I could play with knives. "You are having all the fun."

I chuckled. "Maybe."

We exited the locker room and then the dojo through the sliding door that led on the roof, we walked on the gravel and I saw Cindy warm up for her web slinging. *Barely a week and she is already so adept at this.*

I wish I could just go fly with her and explore the city this way. Once she was done, Cindy lowered her bandana face mask, hugged me, then smashed her lips to mine in a searing kiss that had my toes curling with pleasure. We kissed each other for another five minutes before she pulled away, beaming. "Later honey." Then she ran and jumped over the cement rail and fell fast down.

She shot her organic webbings and slinged away by navigating between the buildings. "My girlfriend is amazing." I mumbled.

[_Excited_: Wish to do that you wish?]

I shook my head. "No, I can already fly." I levitated and cloaked, flying to where I felt my escort was parked, before a small grocery store near this building.

When I touched ground, I deployed my notice-me-not field and uncloaked, suddenly appearing selectively for my guards. "Hey there." I knocked on the glass of the driver door.

The door's window went down with a mechanical sound. Francesco Matias, an hispanic man, with brown eyes and a nice smile was at the driving wheel today. "Miss Grey." He greeted with a slight spanish lilt to his words.

An evil grin spread over my face. "Edwards."

His eyes widened and he said in horror. "No, no my name is Francesco." He waved his hands no, implying he'd never accept such a name.

I tilted my head and said thoughtful, "No, you look like an Edwards."

Francesco made a beseeching expression as he looked up and said, "Oh dios, ¿por qué debes probarme así? (Oh god, why must you try me so?)" Then he glared at me. "When will you remember my name?"

I shrugged. "Maybe never?"

Alice opened the passenger door and exited it, signalling me to enter. Her short blonde hair was styled into a bob cut today. Her green eyes were hidden by her sunglasses. My eyes focused back on Francesco.

The poor man simply shook his head. "Niña mala (Evil girl)."

Chuckling I touched his arm. "Sorry, you know I joke right?"

He nodded ascent. "I guessed, but it's difficult to say with that poker face of yours sometimes, nina..."

Huh, I guess I need to do the RBF less often, let's go home. I entered the vehicle and placed myself between Alice and Eve who readied their assault weapons and looked through the windows. Francesco contacted the first vehicle with the other agents and said that we were ready for the convoy to leave toward HQ.

"HQ?" I asked Eve with furrowed eyebrows.

The petite brunette seemed really contrite by the fact and she tried to explain why we changed itinerary, "Something came up, Director Carter has called for you."

I sighed, "Let's go."

I saw the first vehicle start and leave before us. Francesco ignited our own armored car and followed the first vehicle. We were quickly out of Corona and followed Corona Avenue. Weirdly, Alice and Eve weren't their chatty seleves today. It was evident they were nervous about meeting the Director who seemed to have news about something. *Does it concern the squiddies?* I asked myself.

When the silence became stifling, I was forced to break it by complaining. "I feel like we're driving to a court martial, this is crazy, guys."

Alice tightened her hold on her rifle and looked at me with quiet awe in her voice which, fortunately, wasn't directed at me. "But, it's the director Jeanie! I mean, she's a living legend."

I rolled my eyes; I didn't see Peggy like this, she was like a grandmother to me. "She's flesh and blood just like you and I, she doesn't like the hero worship so can it."

The blonde young woman huffed and looked through the window, from the sign outside I could see that we passed a Dunkin Donuts that made takeout and delivery. It took two minutes for Alice to speak again, I felt her curiosity getting the best of her. "So… you meet her a lot?"

I gave her a look. She looked away sheepishly, looking cute with the red staining her cheeks, so I caved and said, "She's practically family at this point."

Eve threw a wisecrack at me, "No wonder you get to have an escort full of agents."

I looked theatrically wounded and said to her while pushing her a bit, "Hey, Eve it's not really nepotism you know... I am a valuable asset." I beat on my chest.

Eve snorted and pushed me back."A cocky one."

"That's right!" I laughed.

It was then that everything went to hell when the lead vehicle blew up, the other cars following suit with exploding. Francesco swerved right on Van Doren street, deftly avoiding cars that had stopped on the street. The girls were panicking and Francesco too.

"What the hell!?" Alice shouted.

Our lead vehicle obviously blew up, who would be bold enough to do that in the light of days?

Eve asked as she unlocked the safety on her rifle. "What's going, Francesco?!"

"We are under attack." He said with obvious sarcasm.

My mental field detected another Metahuman right before us. It was a bald man who had some kind of horizontal tattoo on his face. He had on ballistic armor and held some sort of launcher with a disc.

"Alice, shoot that bald motherfucker!"

"What?" She looked through the window, saw the man but simply didn't have time to follow through my command and the man launched the disc from the device who came low. It was faster than I could think, I encased me and my guards in a bubble of TK.

**BOOM**! The explosion under the car lifted it behind first into the air. I felt the bald bastard completely disappear out of my range, and the SUV slid on the road until it stopped in the middle of the road. Francesco, Eve and Alice were alive but unconscious. I was the only one awake and it didn't bode well in the slightest.

With my TK I opened the door, forcefully ejecting it from the side of the car. It clattered noisily on the road. I crawled out of the passenger side and was outside the car. Standing up I watched around me, waiting for that metahuman to appear again, I felt Goldie trying to enter her Klyntar battle form but fought her and told her, "No, I don't want people to see you in public yet."

Through all this, I pushed the most powerful Keep-away field that I could deploy within two kilometers. All the onlookers began to stampede away from the car crash. I benevolently helped people trapped in the cars next to ours extricate themselves from the coffin on wheels that their vehicles have become. Whoever was after me has done their homework on me and was deliberately out of my range.

**# # #**

**(Vanisher)**

Through his binoculars, Vanisher watched as the girl exited the car. She was tough, he'd give her that. He didn't see the agents get out of the wreck, but the girl kept overwatch on the car so they must still be alive and kicking but unconscious. She adopted a combat stance and Vanisher recognized someone experienced enough to kick some serious ass; he approved the fact that she didn't depend on her telekinetic and telepathic power. The redhead's gaze scanned her surroundings.

Vanisher spoke into his Walkie Talkie. "I neutralized the car, over."

"Wilco, Prism teleport and attack." Scalphunter commanded.

In a flash of light, Prism appeared ten meters from the girl and ran at her. She instantly detected him and a red glowing spear appeared in her hand and she threw it so strongly that Vanisher thought he heard a sonic boom. The spear crashed into Prism who suddenly was completely gone in a shower of crystal dust.

It had really been a sonic boom that he heard, he saw the shattered glass of every building in that street on the pavements from each side of the road.

Vanisher changed vantage point from a building with a flat roof giving view directly on the scene from a vantage point. He noticed that as far as he could see the flatscans had all fled the area, was it the girl who did it? *Too bad we counted on them to stay and restrain her further.*

"Take the shot, John." Vanisher said in his talkie walkie.

**Bang. Bang. Bang.** A red bubble of telekinetic force stopped each shot from Scalphunter's .50 cal rifle. *Ah, that failed too.*

The girl turned toward the direction of the shooting, her hand raising. Vanisher widened his eyes and quickly teleported to where Scalphunter was sniping one kilometer away to save him and teleport him away from the spot, but it was too late. His head uncorked from his shoulder and his head was wrenched away from his body until his spine was visible, a shower of gore rained down on Vanisher who teleported away and found another spot to camp.

He was suddenly on his knees and vomited his lunch on the gravel of the roof having never witnessed such a gruesome death before. That girl played for keeps.

On his radio he heard Arclight. "What happened, Scalpy? Did you or Prismy get her? Scalpy?"

The bald man slapped his cheek and took his radio and spoke. "This is Vanisher, John is dead, I am taking command. Scrambler jump now, distract her! Blockbuster, Arclight, jump twenty seconds after them!"

Vanisher turned to the scene under him, took the bag on his back, opened it and pulled out a jet injector and screwed an ampoule of the special tranquilizer their sponsors had given them for this operation. He was ready to inject her at any moment now.

On the radio, Scrambler shouted, "No way dude, she just vaporized Prism and killed John!"

Taking the radio in hand Vanisher said calmly, "I will kill you myself if you don't jump."

There was silence on the channel until finally Scrambler said, "Fine if I die I will haunt you!"

Vanisher saw the moment Scrambler appeared basically at one meter of the girl and lunged at her but to no avail. He continued watching as she caught him by the neck and raised him in the air. She smirked and floated one meter from the ground. Scrambler smiled as well and he touched her naked arm. Vanisher could see the girl grimace as the asian man's power short circuited her powers.

"Score! He touched her! Go, go, go!" Vanisher shouted on his radio.

The girl let Scrambler go and they fell on the ground. She landed on her feet while the korean man was on his ass. Vanisher saw panic etched on the redhead face, until it was replaced by cold fury. She looked at Scrambler who was laughing and saying something to her. The scene that followed would forever traumatize the bald man.

She blurred to Scrambler with a flying kick and his head exploded into mist. "WHAT THE FUCK!?"

Arclight and Blockbuster appeared, looking ready to rumble until they saw the state in which Scrambler was. Arclight was shaken while Blockbuster took it in stride as he walked up to the redhead who turned to them and lunged with a fist, Blockbuster caught her fist, but she must have been some sort of ninja as she hit him with a wicked kick to the head that forced the black man to release her. She was attacking him again but Arclight tackled her. As they were in midair, they changed position and the girl was straddling the brutish purple haired woman and punched her so hard that Vanisher felt the shockwave from his vantage.

The redhead punched Arclight repeatedly and relentlessly, creating shockwaves that rattled the surrounding buildings. Arclight seemed to cry out and protect her face with her arms. Blockbuster made himself useful and caught the girl by her red hair and lifted her up. Vanisher doesn't know how she did it but she held onto the black man's arm and squeezed it making him let go of her, but she was still holding his arm and performed a judo throw and slammed the huge man on Arclight who cried out again.

The girl kicked Blockbuster in the cojones and sent him flying in an arc ten meters away, then her eyes settled on Arclight once again, reached her foot and held on it;.Vanisher couldn't believe what he was seeing, the redhead was slamming his teammate on the pavement like a ragdoll until she created a crater that dug deep in the road.

*This wasn't in her file…*

Blockbuster jumped and lunged to the redhead and simply punched her with a full power haymaker, and sent her flying, he followed her until she crashed in an abandoned car. She was fast on her feet and the two foes lunged at each other once again, the difference was that the redhead didn't punch him and simply snaked around his body until she was on his shoulders and used her strength and weight to pull him down on the ground, then she jumped in the air, readying an axe kick to cave in Blockbuster's head until something miraculous happened. A spear of energy struck the redhead full on, stunning her.

She fell on her knee and was quickly struck by another spear of energy that shocked her, arcs of blue electricity surged around her, making her seize. Then she passed out. Without waiting, vanisher teleported next to the redhead in a flash of purple light and put the jet injector against the back of her neck and pulled the trigger. A narrow, high-pressure stream of liquid penetrated the outermost layer of the skin of the young woman and delivered the tranquilizer into her bloodstream.

"Mission complete." Vanisher spoke, wearing a self satisfied smile.

"Vanisher." A steady and baritone-like voice called the teleporter out.

Vanisher felt happy for the first time that the inuit was on their team. "Harpoon, good job!" He shot him a thumbs up.

"It was nothing, how many are still alive?" The inuit nodded and crouched to take his spears on the ground.

Vanisher looked at the bodies of his teammate, "Me, you, Arclight and Blockbuster I think."

The inuit nodded. "Let's gather them and get out of here, forget taking the dead with us."

They did just that. Arclight was still alive but could barely move, her regeneration factor was weak, so they would have to put her into a health pod to heal. Blockbuster could still walk and at his expression Vanisher guessed that he felt humiliated by being done in by such a slip of a girl. They had entered this fight blind and were almost all wiped out.

"Harpoon, is it normal that she is naked?" Vanisher realized when he looked at the redhead on the ground.

The inuit was pondering this phenomenon as he watched the childish but enticing female body. "This is strange, what's her deal? Were her clothes temporary?"

Blockbuster lacked his front teeth, he sounded weird when he said, "Zho cares, Ret's get outta fere."

Vanisher turned to the SHIELD car and saw a blonde agent exiting the car, she looked at them, he gave her the finger and crouched to touch Jean's naked body and pushed the button on his long range teleportation harness. The woman was about to fire at them with her weapon when they disappeared in a flash of light.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 11**

**(Elizabeth Margareth 'Peggy' Carter)**

**Cerberus HQ**  
**08:45 PM**

_CRASH._

Peggy took another vase, lifted it up and slammed it onto the ground. CRASH. Never had she felt so impotent, so useless! Wrong, she was wrong… she had felt this horrible way one other time. It was when Steve took that damn plane to the arctic and landed over the water near Greenland. She froze at this realization but then made her way over to her office chair and took a seat.

Once she sat, she swiveled toward the armored bay window and looked outside, where the sun had almost set and the shadows in the city would soon bring darkness to the land. Peggy's thoughts spiraled downward again as her mind trickled back towards her failure. There was no sugarcoating it- she had truly failed to uphold her promise to the young woman who she had come to view as a granddaughter. Jean was more attentive than her niece, Sharon, who was more of a loose cannon.

Already Peggy suspected foul play. She knew that Hydra was embedded deep but them being able to act boldly like this made her blood boil. Her being director here would let her stall the rotation of personnel and dig out the rot in her own headquarters. She rapped a fingernail against the armrest of her office chair as she pondered at the issue of how long this ambush had been planned.

"Someone had to have sent the route Jean and her escort had taken." Unfortunately, there were too many suspects for her to have a chance to ever find them.

Peggy lowered her head, and sighed heavily, but a thread of anger was still present in her mind. She slammed her fist on her arm rest. "I will find you." She promised, her voice icy and sharp enough to cut through glass.

Someone whistled in admiration and then she heard a familiar voice say, "See Nick, I told you it was going to be time for a witch hunt."

"That you did." The gruff voice was even more familiar.

Peggy's chair swiveled toward the entrance of her office and she saw the uniformed Nick Fury and Phil Coulson standing in the entrance of her office, holding wine and old woman wanted to rage at them for interrupting her wallowing and self-flagellation.

She held herself back, though. "I said I wanted to be left alone for a while."

"There's no problem so awful that you can't add some guilt to it and make it even worse." Phil quoted as he walked to her desk in sync with Nick who looked around them, impressed by the destruction of the decorations and furniture.

Peggy's expression became thoughtful. "Never heard of that saying."

"One of my friends told me that when I failed for the first time." Phil said sagely as he put the pack of specially imported Greene King beer on Peggy's desk.

Nick went to the alcohol cabinet opposite the desk and found some crystal cups and brandy. His face lit up when he found Peggy's stash of tea biscuits and he snatched them and placed everything on his boss's desk.

"I see." Peggy commented, starting between the two men- the only two agents she could trust to not betray her. "What have you come here for? Have you come to get an old woman drunk?"

Nick snorted. "Drunk? Ma'am, I remember you drinking us under the table some months ago."

Despite herself, Peggy shot Nick a wicked smile. "And I paid for it on the morrow. Bloody good times." Her voice was wistful and she fell into nostalgia. Peggy remembered being out for a night on the town with Howard and Antonia Stark, going bar hopping until they couldn't walk. They were talking about funding SHIELD and lending gear and other resources. Howard came up with the concept of the helicarrier by drunkenly doodling on a napkin...

"We have pieced together what happened." Phil said with undistilled emotion.

In a second, the trip down memory lane halted. Peggy's eyes hardened and she leaned in her chair and looked at each of the men. "Business first, I see."

Nick tipped his chin down in a nod. "When we are in these halls? Always."

And the two agents began to weave the tale of an ambush that claimed the lives of four SHIELD agents on Corona avenue. The pursuit then stopped abruptly on Van Doren street when an explosive device was used to stop the vehicle with the person of interest inside. The three interrogated rookie agents that were with the person of interest survived thanks to her ability and were rendered unconscious. Instead of fleeing, the person of interest chose to stay and defend the downed agents.

"A damn fine job she did before she got taken down by that Eskimo asshole." Nick praised Jean Grey, a rare moment.

Peggy reacted to the racial slur. "Noatak was there?"

Kodiak Noatak, or Harpoon as he was called in the underworld, was an assassin on whom the only information SHIELD had managed to obtain was his ethnicity and trails of bodies all over Canada and the USA. Doctor Wright, their scientist specialized in powered humans, had described his power to be Longitudinal object conversion; he could imbue items with some sort of bio-energy and give them different effects.

Phil nodded, his face crinkled and his lips twisted into a scowl. "That bastard was caught lurking around the fight on camera."

Peggy's eyes were on Phil and she was aware he was struggling to rein his emotions in, The alcohol on the table was mostly for him and the old woman wouldn't begrudge him to drink his sorrows away. He had entered into a rapport with Jean Grey who saw him as an uncle rather easily after being exposed to him and his good nature. He missed her. Peggy could also say that she did too, it was as if the teen knew how to easily enter their confidence and obtain their trust.

She had at first, like Nick, suspected that there was some subtle telepathic manipulation going on from Jean, but she was genuinely like that with the people she liked.

"There's a recording of the battle if you are interested." Nick threw out, munching on a biscuit.

The director's eyes hardened, her voice becoming martial. "I am, bring it to me here."

Ten minutes later Nick was back with an IT guy who set up a TV screen with a DVD player, the recordings of three different streets were collated together to offer perspective of how the fight happened. Jean killed the first one who appeared with some sort of teleportation technology. Phil explained that the scientists were having a field day with the high energetic signatures all over the place.

They now saw how Jean had deflected three .50 cal rounds fired from at least one kilometer away. They paused the video to discuss that specific part of the fight. "We found the body of the sniper, he was killed from afar, somehow Grey could see him."

"Somehow we have been able to identify him." Phil said as he put a folder on Peggy's desk and slid it to her.

Peggy took and opened it, instantly seeing the old black and white picture of a clearly American Indian man in an army uniform. Phil continued his report, "This is John Greycrow, a Native American from an unidentified tribe. Just like you, Ma'am he fought in World War II for the USA, but he was executed for murdering his fellow officers."

"The bastard." Peggy spat, gritting her teeth.

What she heard next settled her nerves slightly. "He was shot by a firing squad and was believed to be... killed. Clearly false, our coroner and doctor Wright are examining the body to see how he died exactly."

"The girl simply unscrewed his head off his shoulders. What's so complicated about this?" Nick unhelpfully added while eating another biscuit.

Phil turned to his friend, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Nick…"

Nick leaned forward in his seat and stared at Peggy and Phil with a winning smile. "I knew she was used to killing." Then his expression shifted to a haunted look. "But even for her, that was horrible." He acknowledged, pointing a finger to the picture of the head of Greycrow.

Peggy glared at Nick who shrugged in return. "Let's move on." The director wanted to know how everything happened, to see how Jean had given everything and yet failed nonetheless.

The video resumed and an asian man appeared, lunging at Jean. She'd caught him but it seemed to have been a bad decision as suddenly she found herself on the ground. The asian man's shoulders shook with his laughter.

"I think this guy was able to temporarily take away her powers." Nick nodded, certain.

"He paid for it." Phil said with dark satisfaction as Jean suddenly decapitated him with a kick. "We have unfortunately been unable to discover who he was, his head has been completely vaporized by Jean."

Peggy paused the video again. "Since when is she this strong? I thought he had somehow messed with her ability?"

Shaking his head, Phil stared at her impotently. Jean Grey. Even though he could feel Jean Grey's love for him in a familial kind of way, he knew she kept her cards really close to her chest. "We still don't know, but it seems that Jean recently gained additional ones; she has stopped sparring with our agents lately. But the last time she was here, she joined a knife throwing game and each of her knives sunk to the hilt into the wooden surface. I think she gained some kind of super strength?"

Nick cackled. "The girl has been sandbagging us since we met her. We will never know how strong she is in fact. But the day we do, she's going to dictate terms to us, you'll see. Something has been going on since Norman Osborn died, did you hear about how his labs were raided and burned down the same day he bought it?"

A retort was on the tip of Peggy's tongue, ready to tell him to stop throwing accusations where there were none, but to her surprise, Phil backed Nick. "His theories have some kind of merit ma'am… it pains me to say it, but I have been suspecting that Jean, I mean Miss Grey, has been using her powers to somehow take down various criminal organizations all over New York."

She didn't know how to take this information. *Jean had been playing vigilante again?* Elaine Grey had confided in Peggy that the main reason behind her allowing Jean to work for them was so they could maintain an eye on her daughter who had been mimicking the Daredevil of Hell's Kitchen. She'd also been associated with the second best assassin in the world, Elektra Natchios. Those meetings were closely monitored by SHIELD, but Natchios had been there more in her capacity as combat instructor for the girl, so they didn't push for anything concerning the assassin yet.

"How? I know what you are talking about, I saw the news; but she had been sleeping in her bed when the Russian Bratva was taken down some weeks ago. I checked myself." Peggy said with certainty.

Nick laughed, and Phil himself couldn't hold back a smile as the reaction of the Director permitted them to have one over her for once. "Ma'am you told us yourself to not expect our common sense to matter where powered people are concerned."

"It all comes down to how those events have been linked, Director. Fire." Nick spelled it out for her.

She seemed even more lost. "Fire?"

Nick took another biscuit from the bag, "Miss Grey is what Doctor Wright calls a Pyrokinetic, another ability she had shown us in her first ability test. The scientists have found that the fire generated by her powers consumes everything it touches, even the ash. And guess what? The burned down clubs, brothels and drug houses were all burned without anything left of them, not even ash remaining."

With this overwhelming evidence… Peggy realized she couldn't defend the girl. "Then she has been busy destroying the Russian…"

"And the sudden quelling of the gang related crimes in Harlem." Phil added with his quirky smile.

Peggy laughed at the realization of how much Jean had played them. "Sneaky girl." In a sense, she was proud that Jean could pull one over them so easily for so long, but in another, "What was she thinking?!"

"I don't know, but she must have had her reasons. We will know them when we get her back." Phil said with hope.

They conferred a little more, finished watching the video and surmised that they all needed to get the tech that was used in Jean's capture analyzed. At the same time Nick was inducted into the secret that Hydra had infiltrated deeply and they could only depend on themselves to clear out their Headquarters, then move on from there.

**# # #**

**(Alice, Eve & Francesco)**

**SHIELD rec room**  
**09:01 PM**

Guilt was not a response to anger; it was a response to one's own actions or lack of action. If it led to change it could be useful, since it was then no longer guilt but the beginning of knowledge. Yet all too often, guilt was just another name for impotence, for defensiveness, destructive of communication; it became a device to protect ignorance and the continuation of things the way they were, the ultimate protection for changelessness.

Guilt was a feeling that gnawed at people typically when they'd just done something wrong, intentionally or accidentally. A person's sense of guilt was usually related to their moral code.

Guilt wasn't necessarily bad. Sometimes it was even productive. Feeling bad after making a mistake could lead to change, such as an apology or a decision to make different choices in the future. A "guilty pleasure" could describe something harmless a person enjoys even if they feel they shouldn't or were embarrassed about their tastes.

No one could deny that guilt was sometimes unhelpful. It could cause physical symptoms, self-doubt, decreased self-esteem, and shame. It could be difficult to overcome these feelings. Having failed to help someone they were ordered to protect, someone who had become a friend somewhat, this seriously made the trio of Alice, Eve and Francesco think that they were failures they could not come back from.

The three of them isolated themselves in the second rec room of the building- the one where no senior agents would find themselves at this time of the night. They felt shame at having failed and were full of dread at what was being done to Jean.

"I wish I had been faster." Alice was sitting on the sofa, nursing a bottle of White Ace cider.

Eve placed a comforting hand on her colleague's forearm. "Nah, it all happened too fast Alice…"

The brunette recalled the moment Jean cried out about shooting the man who had suddenly appeared twenty meters from their vehicle. She did the math and as she was familiar with Alice's reaction speed on the shooting range there was no way the blonde would have been fast enough to do anything about what happened next.

Alice looked at her, not willing to believe her and wallowed a bit more in her misery. "But-"

Eve bopped her on the nose and told her with all seriousness. "No buts, we weren't prepared or serious enough and we paid for it… Jean paid for it." Her tone was drenched in sadness by the end. The two women kept silent for a moment, thinking of the worst case scenarios; women being captured by terrorist or criminal scums often ended up being mentally and physically… violated. They looked at each other and hugged, seeking warmth as the prospect for their charge had made them feel cold with dread.

"I hope she's going to hang in there." Alice mumbled.

Francesco slammed his metal cup on the bar facing the sofa where the women were seated. He had drunk some Apple Sourz and felt a little of a buzz thrumming through his blood. He wanted to shoot someone or something. When he heard Alice and Eve talking, he couldn't but help think of the worst scenarios too, but there was something that he knew about Jean Grey from the little time they had been acquainted, she wasn't a quitter, she could take it and roll with the hits life threw at her.

That's why he was confident in his next words that were meant to reassure his colleagues. "Jean will find a way to escape, you hear? She killed three of those guys before they took her down. I saw the video."

Alice nodded, her sadness fading a little. "I did." It had been incredible.

Jean had performed for them, just little tricks with her powers they had thought at the time. The redhead was companionable and funny, but after seeing her in action and wrecking those asshole kidnappers they were happy to have not pissed her off like the first team had, becoming virtual fixtures around her and ignored completely.

*Too bad she was taken out by a cheap shot.* Eve thought.

Francesco had a determined and wild expression on his face. "I bet you that we will see Jean here soon."

Alice was the first to react to what the Latin man said. "How much?"

Francesco took a fifty from his wallet and slapped it against the bar. He smiled devilishly at the female agents who somehow felt better and less guilt ridden.

Eve said with decisiveness, "We need a pot. I want in on this." With that, she stood and went in search of one.

"It gives me hope." Alice took a $100 bill out of her wallet, walked up to the bar and placed the money on it, waiting for Eve to come back.

Later, other agents from the interrogation department would come to bet on how long it'd take Jean Grey to free herself, some variation of the bet spoke about how she would destroy the kidnappers' base or come back with their dead bodies. There was a lot of that going on as the days passed and the pot's money grew and grew until secondary pots were added.

Everyone that knew her was sure that Jean Grey would come back.

**# # #**

**(Cindy Moon)**

**November 18th, 1996**  
**B&T Electronics**  
**11:21 PM**

There were two kinds of guilt: the kind that drowned you until you were useless, and the kind that fired your soul to purpose. It was the second kind that concerned Cindy Moon. It had been seven days since her girlfriend was captured. She too was guilt ridden, wishing she;d gone with Jean that day and maybe, just maybe she would be there with her and her family.

Cindy had seen the state her father and mother were in when SHIELD had announced that their daughter had been taken. John had gone completely quiet and Elaine burst into sobs, breaking things until Cindy had hugged her. The asian girl had needed to do something or she would have sunk into despair, that was why she was accompanying Peter in his patrols and was fighting crime alongside him.

The enemy simply looked ridiculous, however he was still dangerous.

"You meddling kids! Who asked you to intervene?!" Shouted the man in green leather tights, spandex mesh jumpsuit and metallic bionic electromagnetic wings.

They were in an office, with the desk, computer and chair having been slammed into a wall, the safe behind a pricey painting of a woman was barely hanging from its hinges.

Peter was hanging on a wall trying to cover the winged man with a cocoon of spider threads, but they were simply torn apart by the metal feathers of his wings vibrating at subsonic speeds. "Give up man, killing that guy won't make it alright, whatever he did to you."

There was a man on the ground, the owner of this little electronic enterprise. He was slowly bleeding out due to the bullet taken to the guts. Peter had disarmed the bird man but kept trying to hold back to not kill him either. Cindy didn't understand.

"Oh believe me it will…" The man grinned with pure delight.

It was at that moment that Cindy landed between the Vulture and Peter. She lunged at the birdman and attempted to land a superman punch on his shoulder, At the last moment he dodged, but Cindy nicked him and he held on the top of his arm crying out. Cindy didn't stop there, targeting his legs with her spider silk and pulled, making the birdman fall.

Peter took advantage of this moment to send a big blotch of web fluid on the downed so he could be pinned down to the ground. The birdman was quick though, rolling away to the left and avoiding it. "Come on!" Peter was getting annoyed by the luck of the man.

Cindy jumped and the birdman tried to bat her away with a wing, but the spider girl caught the non bladed part on the armature of the wing and held on. Something strange happened as a blue electric bolt of electricity that coursed from Cindy's right hand to the wingsuit made it stop moving completely. The man cried out and seized as if he was being electrocuted.

Cindy was about to claw the man's face when Peter caught her hand. "Don't, he's down."

Indeed, the birdman fell face first onto the ground. His mechanical looking wingsuit was smoking, sparks shooting out of it every few seconds.

"So?" Cindy retorted.

Jean had taught her that an enemy down was the perfect time to strike and beat them to within an inch of their life. The spandex wearing wannabe hero shook his head and told her through his lens covered eyes, "This isn't how I do things, Ci-Spider girl."

With the money that Jean had given him to make their phones, Peter was given the leftover money for a job well done; he had upgraded his costume. It was now made from a skin tight cloth, most likely spandex or similar. The costume was mostly blue with red gloves, boots, mid-section and mask.

Cindy reacted violently to that code name; no way was she going to be treated like a sidekick for Peter's Parker superhero persona! "No, just no. Don't call me that. I am Silk. Je-my girlfriend gave me this cooler name."

Peter made the movement letting her know that he was rolling his eyes. "Whatever, what I am trying to say is that I am not like that guy in Hell's Kitchen. I don't beat people black and blue or break their spine."

Cindy was about to answer when she felt the presence of someone behind them and turned toward it in a combat stance. Peter didn't feel the same instinct until the last second as he was still focused on lecturing Cindy.

"This will get you killed one day." A feminine voice said.

Elektra appeared from the shadows, dressed in her less slutty red and black ninja costume composed of a black and red hooded skin tight boiled leather suit with short sleeves, fitted bodice, leather bracers and leg protections. A half mask, similar to Cindy's, protected her identity. It was her visible cold eyes that were focused on Peter that made him back off.

Cindy saw Peter visibly flinch as he placed himself between her and Elektra. "Silk, get behind me."

Cindy arched a brow. "What for?"

Peter pointed his chin to Elektra. "She's dangerous, aren't your spider senses tingling?"

Cindy's gaze bounced from Elektra and Peter before she burst into a fit of giggles. "Huhu, no. Sensei, what are you doing here?" The spider silk covered girl turned to the female ninja.

There was a certain sadness that filled the room, a sadness so heavy even Peter felt it. "Phoenix would have wanted me to keep an eye on you, that's what I've been doing for the last two nights since you've been busy playing hero with spidey boy there."

Cindy fell silent, her eyes misting and Elektra walked up to, embracing her in a hug.

Peter looked rather surprised and asked, "Do you know each-other?"

Stepping back from each other, Elektra let Cindy introduce her to the young man. "This is my and Phoenix's sensei. She taught us how to fight."

"Ah." Peter looked at Elektra as if she was a viper or something even more venomous.

Elektra just shook her head and said urgently. "Less talking, spiderboy, call the police and an ambulance. Silk, take the flight harness off the man."

"Yes sensei." Cindy slightly bowed her head.

Spinning on her heel, she briskly walked to the battered and bloodied man, crouched at his side and began stripping him of the suit he wore. It was kept together on him with a lot of leather and metal harness. Three minutes later, Cindy took the piece of tech and brought it to Elektra.

Cindy presented the suit to Elektra who took it. "What are we going to do with it?" Her brown eyes focusing on the wingsuit, Elektra said absently, "Keep it, for when Jean comes back."

This carefree little sentence punched a hole in Cindy's heart that made her look in surprise at her combat tutor. Cindy was consumed by fear at the possibility of never seeing Jean again, which was the sole reason she had been roaming at night with Peter, taking down criminals and asking for information about her girlfriend's abduction. To no avail as none of the petty criminals or crime families in the Queens knew about what happened.

She hadn't given up yet, but she was getting there. But now, here was Elektra having no doubt about Jean coming back. "You are so sure of that, Sensei…"

Elektra looked Cindy in the eyes, her own brimming with confidence. "I trained her, and she has copied everything I know about my craft; I believe in her."

"I-I do too." Cindy stuttered.

Did she? Each time Jean spoke about the man after her, she depicted him to be extremely scary and evil. Would her girlfriend be able to come back? And if she did, would she be the same girl she loved? Cindy looked down at her hands and felt fury that she would never have thought that she was able to feel before. *How dare he? If I find that man I will do more than some damage.*

Elektra's hand landed comfortably on Cindy's shoulder. "Then don't be too down and be more careful if you intend to go out at night and fight crime. You almost killed that man tonight."

Cindy felt vindicated when she heard Elektra; she didn't care much about this guy, after all birdman was a killer. He should understand that some other people might want to kill him too. She opened her mouth, ready to defend her reasons, "But-"

"No buts, I would have said the same to Jean. Killing is easy, but would you have been able to handle taking a life? We will never know, and I don't expect you to know before you are mentally ready to pay that price, is that clear?" Elektra scowled, her voice brokering no arguments.

They stared at each other for over a minute before Cindy broke down first and gritted her teeth with her fists tightly closed. "Yes… sensei."

Six minutes later, Cindy and Elektra were on the roof of B&T Electronics, overlooking the ambulance as they loaded Mister Gregory Bestman the owner of that particular enterprise toward the nearest hospital, his gunshot wound was critical. As for the Birdman, who was Mister Adrian Toomes he was being arrested and brought-in personally by Captain Stacy in his squad car.

Peter was hanging under the light sign of the building, making it seem that it was him that was responsible for stopping Toomes. But Cindy knew that news of her existence and willingness to fight crime would sooner than later spread all over the city, she was going to be ready for that attention.

**# # #**

**November 19th, 1996**  
**Midtown High**  
**12:04 PM**

It was lunchtime and Jessica was being a bother. Cindy was on her last straw. The pink haired girl always asked her if she was okay. Things were different when Jean wasn't here to glue her friends all together; Jessica had reverted to being more rude, Gwen and Peter had retreated to isolate themselves and Patsy restored to being mute.

The weather was grey and windy, so it had forced the group of friends to stay indoors for lunch time. The subdued mood was getting to everyone, Cindy more than ever.

*This is getting ridiculous.* Cindy slapped her hand on the table's surface and everyone looked at her. Gwen was the first to ask a question. "Abusing the furniture, Moon?"

Cindy ignored the obvious barb. "What's gotten into you all?"

"Jean…" Patsy mumbled, her eyes shining ever so slightly. She looked down, returning to her food, eating almost… mechanically.

The youngest among them had been behaving strangely since Jean disappeared. Her easy smile had faded away and she had become a bit more skittish. The silence was deafening around the table. Everyone had demanded an explanation when they'd heard of Jean's kidnapping. Cindy and Jessica had felt compelled to give an accurate story of why she had been targeted; some powered mad scientist guy wanted Jean for her powers and had been targeting her since she was a child until now when he had finally succeeded.

Gwen and Peter had nothing to say to that at the time but they looked upset. Patsy had just cried the whole time; then Peter decided to look for her at night and Cindy decided to follow and help him.

Cindy sighed wearily. She had never thought that she would fight to keep this group together. Then she looked at everyone around the table and spoke with as much eloquence she could, "I know Jean isn't here. But do you think she will be happy that the group of friends she put together broke apart in her absence?"

For the first time Cindy saw Gwen looking... ashamed? Was it truly that? Or had she given up? Then Cindy remembered that Gwen was the daughter of a police officer and that kidnappings like Jean's often went unresolved. The victim was never heard from again. Cindy would never give up, though. Elektra herself was sure that her first student would come back.

"When she comes back, she's gonna smack you." Patsy's voice surprised everyone.

Cindy was happy that the other redhead of their group had finally spoken. Lately, she'd been really worried about her. But of course someone had to rain on her parade and ruin the moment.

"If." Peter added with a neutral face.

Jessica and Patsy glared at him; for once it wasn't Cindy who snapped at him for being a Debbie Downer, but Patsy. "Shut up Peter, she will come back. She has to."

He looked at Patsy patronizingly. "You know the statistics about kidnapping, 48 hours is…"

Patsy rose from her seat and shucked her plastic fork at him. "I said shut up, she will come back."

Peter simply moved his head on the side and avoided the projectile. Everyone in the cafeteria was watching the show they were putting on. News of Jean being snatched on her way home had spread like wildfire and an AMBER alert was released just a few days ago. AMBER was an acronym for America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response. The alert was named after Amber Hagerman, a 9-year-old girl abducted and murdered in Arlington, Texas, in 1995. Since then, the system had been implemented nationwide.

Jessica took her sister's hand and attempted to calm down. "Hey, Patsy. Sis, calm down, don't say anything you can't take back okay?" Jessica hoped that Patsy would let it go; she was kind of shy but when she got angry it was hard to stop her.

Patsy kept glaring at Peter who looked impassively at her, a dangerous smile playing on her lips and everyone was surprised when venomous-like words spilled out of them. "He was never her friend anyway. Always thinking he was in competition with her for Gwen. What an ingrate, after everything she did for him."

Gwen gaped at Patsy, and as for Cindy, she wasn't surprised. Peter kind of came across like an asshole when he spouted things like he just did.

"Well, I see that tempers are running hot…" Cindy mumbled.

Jessica, having heard Cindy, sighed heavily and stood up, once again she was going to try to be the voice of reason for everyone at this table. It wasn't going to be easy. "Everyone, can't you just chill? Pete, keep your opinion to yourself if you cannot read the mood; anyway you don't know Jean like we do. She will come back."

Gwen seemed to understand that Peter wasn't welcome at the table for now. Not with Patsy and Cindy in that kind of mood and decided that discretion was the best part of valor. She glanced at her watch and said, "Come Peter. It's going to be the end of lunchtime soon anyway."

"But-" Peter was going to argue but she pulled him away from the table, and he just about grasped his backpack straps.

Jessica then turned to Cindy and sat as she said, "Hey Cindy, I know you're trying your best to hold us together; but you were kind of heavy handed there."

Cindy's cheeks reddened, she was clearly not made for this touchy feely stuff. "I-I just want her to find everything she left like it was. Jess, you know she will need us when she gets back."

Jessica chuckled sadly. "So that's why. You can't force people to get along."

The asian girl looked at the pink haired hellion. "Jean can. It's like she's using magic to glue us all together."

"Jean is Jean, you are you." Patsy said. "Don't try to mimic her, she likes you for who you are."

Cindy found it rich that Jean's number one fangirl was lecturing her about not mimicking her girlfriend, but she let it pass, because she understood the underlying message she wanted to tell her.

"Well said!" Jessica nodded, slapped the table and returned to eating her home cooked lunch.

After that the cafeteria slowly emptied, the girls went to their respective classes. Cindy hoped that what happened between the gang right now wasn't going to stop them from being friends again. *Jean I'm doing what I can, can't you hurry up and come back to us? Back to me?*

Days passed and it wasn't until December that news about her girlfriend would reach her.

**# # #**

**(Charles Xavier)**

**X-Mansion**  
**December 14th, 1996**  
**08:05 AM**

Charles Xavier was in his office, reading the news from different newspapers from all over the USA. He had a feeling, a sense of awareness, that today wouldn't be a good day. It was reinforced by this sense of foreboding in the air gnawing at him. The news had been slowly worsening as of late. Clinton had been reelected last month, and it was bad for the Republican party. As if it wasn't bad enough, the man kept doing things such as this Freedom of Information Act of his, intended to make U.S. government agencies' functions more transparent so that the American public could more easily identify problems in government functioning and put pressure on Congress, agency officials, and the president to address them.

His old friends in the CIA and DOD had not been happy since. The light on his answering machine blinked, altering him he hadn't checked his voicemail. Charles removed his glasses, frowning. Then he pressed the playback button, curious as to who might have contacted him this early in the morning.

**You have one new message!**

After the automated message from the machine, the familiar voice of an immortal English mutant was heard, "Charles! My dear, DEAR friend! I know technically I'm supposed to be completely blank in regards to our "secret arrangement" in that I continue my work in collecting Mutant Data for the benefit of some BIG plan you and Magneto spent years in the prepping for… But, I've actually been able to recall it for quite some time!"

Charles' eyes widened, quickly examining his surroundings to ensure no one else had heard the message. He sensed no one near the door. The message continued on, not caring about his feelings at all. In the background of Mister Sinister's call, there were sounds of combat, men crying out and stone grumbling.

"Years in fact," The voice of the man was smug. "thanks to a previous Me being replaced by another previous Me, who remembered our short time together. Now, the reason I've decided to make this revelation, this little call, is because I've recently got myself an early christmas present."

Sinister stopped here for effect, screeching and weapons' fire could be heard at that moment. Charles was slowly understanding who Sinister was talking about. It had been thirty-four days since Jean Grey disappeared. John Grey had also called him to find out if there was anything he could do to save his daughter. Charles had scoured the world with Cerebro but found nothing; though he had suspected Weapon Plus or one of the groups who experimented on his kind to be responsible.

But Nathaniel having an interest in the girl was suddenly terrible news.

Sinister's british accent was more prevalent as he seemed to panic at that moment. "A reality warping mutual acquaintance of ours, and I just want to offer a sign of trust to make sure you haven't decided to cancel our arrangement and throw me under the bus… you haven't, have you?!"

Crashes and explosions prevented Charles from hearing most of the message until he could hear what Sinister was getting at. "Because she's tearing apart my base and killing my people left, right and center! She's clearly more powerful than I had expected. How did you not know that she could lift mountains with her mind when you met her? BLOODY MOUNTAINS!"

The roar and cacophony came to a stop and Sinister continued, his tone ringing with finality. "Oh, she has killed everyone already, it's my turn now, good bye."

Then the answering machine stopped, leaving Charles frozen in complete shock. With a trembling hand, he opened the drawer of his desk and retrieved the special communicator that Peggy had given him. The message was clearly implicating him with Sinister. A monster who had been roaming since before the first World War. His sense of ethics and his personal friendship weighed hard on his psyche, so he couldn't just not act- at least, not this time.

This kind of thing had a way of getting out, he couldn't just ignore it. Even though he understood that Jean Grey was tearing apart Sinister's base and in the process of escaping, if she learned that he had done nothing he could lose a potential ally in her too. *But then the utopia plan might get scraped too.*

After deliberating for another five minutes, Charles pressed the call button of the communicator and the wearied voice of Peggy Carter could be heard. "Charles, what can I do for you?"

He had seen how resolved Peggy Carter was in having Jean Grey back when she had come mid November, seeking his help. He had been surprised to find out that Jean Grey was hired as a consultant for SHIELD and that was because she had followed him to discover that there was a powerful unbound telepath in her vicinity with less ethics than him and willing to work with SHIELD. Charles had been disapproving all the while, and still, the protection of SHIELD hadn't been enough and Jean Grey was taken, by other mutants.

Now Charles understood that Sinister's own agents had captured the girl and he himself was now paying for it.

Charles' heart was beating fast as he spoke, "Pegs… I just received a message and… I think I know who has Miss Grey. Could you come to the mansion?"

Silence. Then, in a hurried tone, she answered, "I will be there in an hour, prepare the helipad." With that, she hung up abruptly.

"Certainly." Charles said.

Just like he thought, today was a bad day. It was a day he'd lose a friend.

**# # #**

**(Erik M. Lehnsherr)**

**X-Mansion**  
**10:15 AM**

Magneto needed answers- answers that he'd find in the house of the man he viewed as a friend, despite their diametrically opposed views on how mutants should interact with the flat scans. As he flew into the skies of the county of Westchester, the Leader of the Brotherhood recalled how he received a message on his voicemail from the one he hated the most. He had thought that it was a ploy to sow division between Charles and him, however the inclusion of Jean Grey who had been snatched up by a mutant group, made him think that this was genuine.

"Charles, did you betray me?" Magneto's red steel gauntlet rippled thanks to his magnetic power spiraling briefly out of control but he quickly managed to calm himself down. Magneto knew the address by heart already; the place where Charles was striving to make his dream come true. Greymalkin Ln, Westchester County 1407, North Salem, NY 10560. Magneto stopped over the big three storied mansion and watched as the youth in the current roster of this institute of Charles were gallivanting around.

He recognized some of them from their constant battles with some of his own junior team in Bayville. The children were straining the bounds of his patience because of that, always threatening to reveal their races and abilities too soon. Fortunately, Erik could count on Charles to make everyone forget.

Erik slowly descended toward the lawn near the entrance of the mansion. When the kids saw him, some stepped back, wary, while the others halted completely. A brunette boy wearing a blue shirt and brown pants walked up to Erik, the distinctive ruby colored lens of his sunglasses permitted him to identify Scott Summers, the pseudo leader of this ragtag team of misfits.

"You are on private property." The boy said firmly.

Erik looked at the boy trying to portray manliness and chuckled darkly. "I know, boy."

Summers scowled at the condescension in the man's voice but his wariness grew. Erik saw his hand twitch. *But it is too late for that.*

"Who are you?" The boy asked, getting into a ready stance.

"Hmm, strange. So Charles didn't speak about me to his new batch of students? He must not think much of you." He didn't anticipate this. Was Charles still playing his games? Keeping secrets from his own troops? Erik didn't like what his friend had been doing. His son and all the members of his powered group knew who he was, an army should after all have a clear chain of command.

They also knew who the X-Men were, their numbers, their HQ and the resources they could call upon. *Oh, Charles, you are raising blind fanatics.*

The boy scowled. "You-"

RAAAARGH! Magneto nonchalantly raised a hand and stopped the lunging clawed Logan in midair with his magnetic power. He had felt the man with the metallic skeleton coming from behind him. *The man hasn't changed at all, always attacking like a crazed beast.*

"Logan, still as wild I see." Erik intoned aloud.

The clear sky darkened suddenly as storm clouds gathered and a gorgeous ebony skinned woman in a tight outfit made of blue and gold spandex descended from the sky. It was like a goddess had decided to grace them the honor of gazing upon her beauty. Lightning gathered in her hand and she threw bolts at him; the boy, Summers threw himself to the right, while Magneto didn't move at all, using his powers to ground the lightning all around him by magnetising different objects in the garden. The arcs bent and carried on through the objects and eventually reached the ground, exploding this little patch of earth and creating craters.

"So much potential squandered, Ororo." Erik commented, looking wistfully at the beautiful woman, her white mane of hair flowed like waves as the wind picked up.

The storm goddess landed on the lawn, glaring daggers at Erik. "That's Storm to you, Magneto."

Erik graced her with his most dashing smile. "Oh my, you are still mad about that little incident from the last time, huh?"

"Why are you here?" Storm spat, her glare only sharper.

"I've come to speak with Charles about something, of course."

A blue eyed and blonde haired young woman placed herself behind Storm and her body shone with intense yellow and orange light that radiated tremendous heat. Her blonde hair seemed ablaze with fiery light. Another student with an ice form tried to make Logan descend, Magneto let Logan fall on his ass; the man clearly wanted to go another round but a glare from Storm cowed him.

Storm's eyes looked unfocused for an instant, a clear sign that she was now speaking with Charles through telepathy. He didn't understand how they could let the man enter their minds so easily, they should be more wary, if what Sinister implied in his message was true, Charles wasn't as ethical as he wanted everyone to believe.

"The professor will receive you." Storm's tone was full of exasperation.

Erik smiled at her. "Excellent."

"Follow me…" Her heels clicked together and the two entered the mansion, leaving the students murming their questions, asking who that man was, and how powerful was he to toy with Logan and their teacher Ororo.

**# # #**

"This place hasn't changed a lot, only minimal renovations were made."

Erik glanced left and right, noting how the decorations seemed to be the same from the last time he had been here with the former graduates- before Charles and him disagreed most violently on what to do with Wanda, his daughter, some years ago.

"The professor wants to keep the homey feeling of this place, let the students think of it as a home away from home." Storm informed the Brotherhood leader.

Magneto stopped before a painting. A sailing boat under the storm, rocking on the waves. "The Storm on the Sea of Galilee. Supposed to have been lost in 1990, painted by Rembrandt van Rijn in 1633." The helmeted man said with quiet reverence.

He turned to Storm who eyed him with suspicion. "When did you find it?"

She stared at him for a second before giving him the information he desired. "We came across and helped in the arrest of the thief and Charles bought it for 70 million from the original owner. It has sentimental value for him and us, it was the last time the previous students worked together."

Erik let his cape cover his arms and nodded at Storm. "Students who have now scattered all over the world spreading Charles' message to any mutant they come across, is Banshee still thinking he is so funny?"

Storm harrumphed and crossed her arms over her ample chest. "Sean works at Interpol. By the way, he is looking for you, I might give him a call later."

Erik slightly bowed, and with a smile in his voice, said, "Please do, it is your prerogative after all."

Storm rolled her eyes and then they resumed their path toward Charles' office which was located on the third floor. Five minutes later, Erik was finally before the office's door and Storm opened it for him. He wasn't surprised to find Elizabeth Margareth Carter seated before Charles.

The white haired but well preserved woman turned her eyes on Erik, then back to Charles. "Another one of your well kept secrets Charles? Consorting with a known terrorist?"

Erik had always liked the no-nonsense woman. His presence didn't phase her in the slightest. With pleasure, Erik almost purred as he addressed her, "Elizabeth."

Peggy glared at him, and firmly stated, "That's Director Carter to you, Erik."

The helmed man chuckled. "I get that a lot lately."

He walked toward the empty seat near Peggy's chair and sat with panache, ensuring he wasn't sitting on his cape.

Peggy mumbled, "As you should."

Erik heard her mumbled words, and snickered. "What a hard woman you are, you still haven't softened since the last time we saw each other. Maybe we could fix that by going to share some drinks later?"

Scratching the surface of the wooden armrest on her chair with her nail, Peggy was grimacing, looking like someone had just placed coals in his socks. The SHIELD director blamed him for her bad luck and said clearly, "This is your fault too, Charles! I am being hit on by Magneto."

*Any man of our generation would.* Erik thought.

Charles heaved a sigh and spoke in an attempt to defuse the situation between his two guests. "Erik, could you please stop creating problems, and tell me why you are here today?"

Magneto raised his hand and glared at the man who claimed to be his friend. "Oh, I'm creating problems?" His voice was thick with sarcasm. Erik crossed his legs and glared, continuing, "Charles, I received a call from a certain immortal British mutant some hours ago and he told me that you and I have some kind of plan that asked for his expertise and that is why we are not raiding each of his bases wherever they are. He must be dead by the way, Jean Grey will have killed him for capturing her."

Charles was visibly sweating, looking between two of his old friends. Peggy wasn't showing it but this discourse from Erik made her reevaluate him. After reigning in her feelings of disgust, Peggy leaned back in her seat and asked the two men, her expression full of seriousness, "Who is he? And is Jean alright? And since when do you deal with criminals, Charles?"

"Sometimes I am forced to deal with things that go beyond what my resources can provide. I am sure that as the director of a spy agency you understand me, Peggy."

She could certainly understand, Erik too; better than anyone in this room in fact. He had to resort to connections he made in the underworld to keep his own bases stocked, and rely on Mystique's fortune to keep his operations running. And still it smarted, that he wasn't able to provide normally for his troops. Maybe he should listen to Mystique- she'd told him his powers had function beyond combat and building things.

Peggy finally nodded, her arms rested on the sides of the chair, shaking with nervous energy. "This… I trust you but the message you promised me to let me listen to. It might change things between us Charles. Jean is important to me, she has been an invaluable help ever since she has entered into my service."

Charles nodded. "I am aware."

That was interesting, so Jean worked for Peggy and not SHIELD directly. *The young woman must have negotiated a deal with Peggy, obviously, knowing that she is a powerful telepath she must have leveraged her ability for protection. The more I hear about Miss Grey, the gladder I am for not having forced her recruitment. Despite that, Peggy doesn't know what the young woman's goals are and mustn't understand the scope of Jean's power- information is power to telepath.*

Magneto chose to interrupt again. "And there's also the fact that Charles might have messed with my memories, as I don't recall anything about any plan Sinister was alluding to." His words portrayed his displeasure clearly.

Charles had the decency to look sheepish. Out of nowhere, Peggy laughed out loud. "So that's his name? Sinister? Is he some kind of James Bond villain? I hate those."

Erik nodded, Sinister was in some ways akin to a James Bond villain, his bases kept being underground and his cloned normal personnel all wore silly uniforms and used futuristic energy weapons and most of them had bad aim. The powered ones weren't so, though. "Nathaniel Essex, or better known in our circles as Mister Sinister. Genius Geneticist and powerful mutant in his own right, he is immortal, has super strength and a durable body, telepathy and a regeneration factor almost rivaling Logan's."

Charles continued, "He is also able to clone himself, normal humans and mutants. Oh. I should have linked the dots when you asked me about all those brain dead clones turning in Annandale-on-Hudson."

Peggy took a notepad from her jacket pocket and began to slowly take notes.

The men continued to share everything they knew about Sinister. "You never know if you are eliminating the real Sinister, he is worse than Hydra was, you can never get him." Erik chuckled, then continued. "As a matter of fact Sinister is allied with the remnants of Hydra. I wouldn't be surprised if they share technology and technical knowhow."

Hydra, a monolithic organization that had been around for several millennia in various forms, its latest and most known incarnation was created out of the remnants of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. It's ideology had changed over the decades, but Hydra's methodology had been consistent. Which was one of supremacy and elitism. Erik knew that Baron Von Strucker had survived and became the new leader, completely replacing the Red Skull.

Anyone could become a Hydra plant, now they didn't care about the previous nazi ideology, they had recently been accepting not only Caucasians and Asians, but also recruits from other racial and ethnic groups such as blacks, mutants, genetic experiments, and the undead… *Those damn vampires should know their place.*

Peggy finished writing and looked at Erik who suddenly wished to have a drink. "Is that all?"

Putting on his most dashing smile, the helmeted man smoothly said, "There's so much that I could tell you, Director Carter. But that information might cost you."

The director looked at the man with disdain. "Your price?"

"Dinner with me, of course." His answer was instant, needing no pause to contemplate.

It was as if the atmosphere froze over in the room. Peggy clenched her jaw and said in a low intonation, that brokered no doubt of what she thought of him, "Go to hell, Lehnsherr."

"Charles you better play that tape, now." Peggy urged the bald professor.

"Right away, Peggy." Charles nodded and then pushed the playback button on his answering machine.

The message was the same as before, they heard the smug tone of Essex; Erik wanted to rip him a new one as he heard his voice. This was the man that put him on this road, this was one of his most hated enemies. In the background, Erik could hear the sounds of battle and destruction, it seemed that this young miss Grey was giving Essex one hell of a fight. It was satisfying to him to hear the panicked rant of the crazed mad scientist, and as the message finished, the tone of resignation in Essex's voice as he would clearly face death.

Nonetheless, Erik was surprised. Jean Grey was an omega level mutant and a reality warper at that? He could see it. Peggy looked mystified for a while, her gaze on Charles growing colder, harder, as the seconds passed. "The only reason I am not putting my gun against your temple,Charles is that it would worsen the situation for those under your care. You have been dealing with a man who has terrorized a young girl for years and wanted to do unspeakable things to her. I wish we could have a way to monitor you, but you have the old boys club protecting you, it wouldn't stick. Frankly, I am disappointed in you."

Charles stayed mum, but his downcast eyes and tightened fists told a story to Erik. Charles liked to conform to the appearances of a wise man that could do no wrong, but deep down he was as sly as Erik.

"Give me the tape." Peggy commanded, her tone harbouring no room for any objections.

"Yes." Charles hurried, removing the tape from his answering machine and sliding it to Peggy over his desk.

The woman stared at him for over a minute after placing the tape in the inner pocket of her jacket. "Do you have anything to say? That you could defend and justify yourself with."

Charles shook his head. "I feel guilty enough as it is." The bald man said in a strongly emotive voice.

Peggy harrumphed. "But not ashamed."

Erik saw that Charles wisely kept silent and decided to weather the storm. But Peggy took it differently, like validation of her new understanding of what Charles Xavier was about.

"Your silence speaks louder than words Charles. I understand why Jean Grey hates you now. I will take my leave." Peggy turned on her heel, slamming Charles' office door as she exited. Erik waved his hand and the bugs that Peggy had left under the chair lifted from it; they floated innocently between him and Charles. "What a woman,.I wish I had met her during the war."

"I have lost a friend today." Charles lamented, loosening the tie of his black suit.

Erik leaned back in his chair, shooting daggers at his bold friend. "Charles we know you are always at risk of that, you think of yourself as a chessmaster, but you are more of a schemer. Now, answer me truthfully, did you manipulate my memories?"

Charles opted to not lie, simply placing his hand before him and linked them by threading together his fingers, staring into Erik's eyes. "I did what I had to. The Utopia project is more important than you think, and you wanted to take charge. I couldn't let that happen."

Erik understood, but it seemed that there was something more that Charles wasn't saying. "I see, tell me, why shouldn't I stop being polite, Charles?"

Charles gazed at Erik with sadness. "Erik whatever I might have done, I am working for the good of our people. I am sure you can understand. You are a dangerous man, smart but clearly blind to see that his action will clearly make the normals demonize us. I-I couldn't let it happen."

Erik chuckled, uncrossing his legs. "You are the second person to tell me so, Jean Grey in fact was the first. I like that girl, she has seen through you and your dream. I am happy that she is such a down to earth and savvy young woman."

Through the window of the office, Erik felt the gathering of numerous vehicles at the entrance of the property. It was time to skedaddle. Peggy must have called in reinforcements to try to take him.

Charles looked surprised by Erik's admission. "When did you meet her?"

The helmeted man stood up, his cape swishing. "That doesn't concern you, Charles. I must now take my leave. And Charles?"

At his name, he looked up to his long time friend and waited for his words with baited breath.

Erik smiled and with a predatory expression said, "If you go into my head and mess with it again I will burn everything you hold dear, my friend."

Charles nodded. "Understood."

Erik turned, walking to the door at a brisk pace, not wanting to be caught by Peggy's task force. As Magneto, Erik was the target of many groups with different interests and he couldn't permit himself to be captured, never again.

"Well at least he didn't slam the door." Charles said to no one in particular.

**# # #**

**Back with Jean…**

I felt myself floating, the sensation strangely soothing. Then, suddenly everything that had happened to me came back in a flash of memories. Panicking, I tried to move, to open my eyes, and I did. I was in some sort of pod with green liquid and cables all over my body and a certain intimate place. I couldn't use my powers, they didn't react like I wanted to.

[_Happiness_: Back you are!] The familiar mind voice of my second best friend rang in my head.

*Goldie! Girl, where are we?* I was floating in green liquid and I could see the room outside but it was all one blurred image to me.

[_Rage, Anger_: The bad man took us.] Goldie informed me, showing me Sinister.

My heartbeat spiked. Wow okay that was bad news, Sinister has us. *I see, why can't I move?*

[_Sadness, Anger_: He broke things.]

Image and feelings were transmitted to me, Sinister breaking my back when I was given to him. A dark and heady feeling of anger threatened to take me over, but I didn't let it. I channeled it into one purpose- get better and go on a killing spree with no holds barred. *Goldie, can you do anything about it?*

[_Uncertainty_: I can. Sustenance needed. But leave, I must, to find it.]

This was good news. *You have my permission to leave, oh and is that sustenance people?*

I recalled what Venom did to people and what happened after he ate them.

[_Truthful_: Yes]

I smiled or at least tried to, with the mask on my mouth. *Goldie, eat as much as you can, but stay stealthy. Eat those motherfuckers, leave the bad man to me though, alright?*

Golden goo oozed out of my body and floated to the ceiling of the pod and escaped it through some apertures I wasn't able to see. Then Goldie was outside and took the form of a golden snake that slithered across the floor.

*Go Goldie, go.*

**# # #**

**(Goldie)**

**Somewhere in Africa**  
**Sinister's Base**  
**December 7th, 1996**

She slithered through the base's air ducts, ensuring she was silent and stealthy all the while being observant. She noted the different levels she passed through, the bad man's lair was big and cavernous, if Goldie knew her host as well as she did right now, she would transform this place into a tomb in her quest for could begrudge her when she had been treated like cattle, this bad man harvesting her blood in large doses. Fortunately, she could do something about it and each time her Jean-host's blood was exposed to oxygen from outside, the DNA became corrupted.

Through the maze of stone and steel, a lot of his minions roamed in groups within the corridors and gathering places. Goldie was despairing as she wanted to follow the orders of her Jean-host, she needed to be stealthy like a tiger. It wasn't until night, when half the base went to sleep and she'd found an isolated human male cooking in the kitchens, that she struck.

When the man began to turn to grab more potatoes to peel, Goldie wrapped herself around him, knocking knives and utensils on the ground. Screams left him until l she closed his airways. The man struggled and whimpered even more as Goldie slowly covered his entire body with her own form and began to physically consume him from the inside-out, slowly draining his vital fluids. As the man's body slowly disappeared from within her, Goldie didn't feel full, no she received barely any sustenance from the man. He was a clone- a fake- and Goldie needed more essences to heal her perfect host.

She repeated this endeavor nine times before having a modicum of what she needed. They had all tasted bland, as though she was eating one of those vegetarian dishes Jean-host's progenitor fed her sometime. An opportunity to fill herself fully presented itself an hour later when she saw a new target who had come to take sustenance in the kitchen. She followed him and his appearance jostled memories and then suddenly she couldn't pass such a boon from the fates.

As the man installed himself in one of the private quarters in the sub-basement of the base, Goldie blended with the stone, her golden luster dulling to grey and stuck to the wall behind. Goldie observed the man who had captured her Jean-host; he was watching something on one of the portable screens that everyone used in that place. Goldie slowly took on her humanoid form and crept up behind him, using the abilities she'd adapted from her Host's mate and sent a powerful bolt of electricity directly to the nape of the bald man's neck.

He seized and then fell forward face first and crushed the low table. Glee and the sweet feeling of revenge washed through her in waves. The man was still alive and Goldie was going to enjoy this. She planned to take her time eating this… meal. She morphed her head to create a mouth and long jaw; scary teeth appeared one by one and a long pink tongue licked the bald man's face.

"Fucked, you should have not, with Goldie."

She swallowed him slowly, head first, though her feminine humanoid form didn't even bulge. With loud crunches, Goldie began masticating, the man must have awakened as her form slightly distorted, but she held on and didn't let him escape and finally there was no struggling inside herself.

"Delicious. Unlike those fake humans." Goldie smirked, beginning to analyze his DNA, the man seemed to have a degree of extra-dimensional properties. That was interesting, she decided to teach her Jean-host about her being able to replicate powers from other powered beings, the one she just obtained might make her happy. From what she could guess, this man had been able to teleport both himself and a certain amount of additional mass over a great amount of distance almost instantly.

Goldie willed herself to displace inside the air duct in this room, and in a flash of blue light there she was, Her surface rippled in satisfaction and she began her path back to Jean-host. It took her two hours to find her way back to the bad man's lair, occasionally stealing weapons and ammo and food for Jean.

She arrived in the room Jean-host was in and slithered on the cables of the pod and entered through the interstices of the water pump. Jean-host was asleep, Goldie returned to her home inside her perfect host, slowly loosened herself and filled Jean-host entire body with necessary vitality, essence and proteins. She quickly got to work on healing her host's spine, bones and nerves.

[_Exultation_: Soon vengeance will be ours.] Jean's eyes opened and immediately she felt the satisfaction of her Klyntar friend who transmitted to her the memories of the men she had eaten. A wicked smile came over her when she recognized the man who had bombed the SHIELD armored cars, heard the sensation of his bones crunching under Goldie's teeth and the way she made his power hers.

Her eyes widened. *Goldie we have to talk, how could you have hidden this from me? How?*

[_Apologetic_: Now I can tell you.] And tell her she did.

Jean became excited as she learned from her friend that a symbiote was able to interface with people's genomes and physiology to imprint their unique powers and abilities into itself, granting subsequent hosts access to those powers. She could also insert a power set into other people, she had in her genetic codex. This shocked Jean.

*No wonder there are symbiote poachers… you are all so incredibly powerful. *

That wasn't all, symbiotes functioned as living extradimensional tesseracts, requiring living hosts to anchor them to the fabric of space and time. That was how those hateful Poison and poachers got to them, without a host they couldn't defend themselves. It wasn't so surprising that Goldie could store a lot of things inside her. Goldie felt the resolution of Jean-host as the bare bones of a plan germinated in her mind. *Goldie, you are the key to our escape and… I think about finishing this. We will kill everyone here, I have had enough of having to look behind my back! Are you with me?*

[_Acceptance, friendship_: We are one.]

**# # #**

**(Sinister)**

**Sinister Egypt Base**  
**December 8th, 1996**  
**05:29 AM**

Sitting on his throne in his audience room, Nathaniel dismissed the holographic window projected before him. He stared at the portrait of his dear and late wife, Rebecca that hung on the grey stone walls. She was such a beautiful woman, witty and smart; a real socialite, that still took care of assuring herself that he was fed and didn't spend too many nights researching and brought him happiness.

Nathaniel closed his eyes, trying to recall her beautiful smile, her blissful scent, and the texture of his fingers threading through her silky black his fist against his temple and leaning back in his throne, Nathaniel tried to calm his bubbling mind, but yet again failed and smiled.

He had her! Finally, it took six years but he had bested the Grey girl, though he felt somehow empty. His smile faded, morphing to a frown. Nathaniel should've been feeling like he was in heaven right now, but this hollow feeling in his chest didn't permit him to. The chase was done, the prey was in his power right now, he should've been beyond satisfied right now, but his caution whispered to him that nothing was decided yet.

"Why do I feel so unsettled? She lost, I won! I will make her my tool! I will defile her in body and spirit… and still she has that much power over me?"

Nathaniel's memories brought him back to the nineteenth century, in 1859 and to that night when the time travelers Cyclops and Phoenix had come to him, trying to make him stray from his birthright, and his meeting with En Sabah Nur, Apocalypse. She was beautiful and powerful, yet a good and kind woman. Phoenix had tried to change him and give him a choice to make him stray from this path, but the death of his Rebecca and his reputation in London's Royal Society had pushed him to accept the offer of En Sabah Nur.

En Sabah Nur painfully transformed him into an ageless being of extraordinary pallor, using telekinesis in his Alien Ship. He'd ordered him to create a powerful plague that would cull the weak and let the strong rise. Phoenix and Cyclops that Apocalypse had captured escaped and had pleaded with him to not release the plague.

When Nathaniel had emerged from En Sabah Nur's machine, he had willingly allowed whatever humanity remained in him to be carved out, all for the sake of science. But unleashing a plague to destroy most of humanity? That was foolish, cruelty for no purpose was ignorance and ignorance was the greatest enemy of science.

Nathaniel manipulated the plague so that it would affect only Nur himself, but his immune system quickly adapted to it. It only caused the man to go into hibernation and as he slowly went to sleep, En Sabah Nur warned Nathaniel to never forget who had the true power and that when he returned, it would be the dawn of the Age of Apocalypse and Sinister would be his servant.

*Never, I will find a way to kill you!* Nathaniel slammed his fist on his throne's armrest.

Phoenix and Summers had returned to their own timeline after he caused his master to go back to sleep. He had hoped they could stay and experiment on them to create a mutant of equal power who could defeat En Sabah Nur. He had to settle to trace their lineage and ancestors to find them in the future. Meanwhile he had made alliances with people of likely similar goals and creed to save the world.

He made enemies and friends alike, created his own army, took items from En Sabah Nur's ship to study the technology inside and became wealthy through the patents and discoveries made by studying them, several fortunes over, but none of it mattered in his eyes. He wanted to be free- free to experiment and enjoy the fruit of his labor, contributing to the cause of homo superior you know.

And it wasn't before the 80's that his long wait was rewarded when Summers and Phoenix, whose real name Jean Grey, were born. He had made sure to be hands off with them, to subtly manipulate things only when needed. But in an unforeseen event Jean Grey noticed him after he had attempted to reinforce the programming he was supposed to have done on her when she was but a toddler. It had completely been ineffective!

And that girl! She was completely different from the woman he had met and he couldn't understand why. She was cocky, abrasive and lethal. She was supposed to have joined Xavier! Been molded by him, but she completely loathed the man and even worse? She was a lesbian! His plan to pair her with Scott Summers completely went down the drain! He needed to combine their genes and create the ultimate offspring.

Nathaniel abruptly stood up and walked to the exit of his audience room taking care to not wrinkle the expensive red carpet with gold threads on the trims. He had tried, really tried, to let nature run its course, Grey and Summers would marry, have children and he'd kidnap their first born and raise him or her. Now he had no choice but to force things, thankfully, he had multiple clones of Summers on base, the only hijink to his plan is that for some reason he couldn't harvest genetic material from Miss Grey.

And there was also the fact that all his attempts to brainwash her utterly failed. Her mind was like steel, stronger than any other ones he had met previously. It didn't bode well… It upset him a great deal that his plan to have her as his willing puppet would never unravel. He stopped walking at the door. His brow furrowed. *Was she subtly defending herself? You never knew with powers…* Nathaniel decided to try again, and if he failed once more, he'd be forced to proceed with doing in vitro fertilization and use the girl's womb.

Nathaniel smiled, he had nothing but time. The door closed behind him as he walked to his main lab with a pep in his steps.

**# # #**

**Back with Jean…**  
**December 9th, 1996**

I was really getting bored while waiting for Goldie to fix my spine, after I finished reviewing things Otto and the scientists had come up with from my stolen knowledge and skills. I tried finding entertainment in quantum string theories. String theory was a broad and varied subject that attempted to address a number of deep questions of fundamental physics. It had been applied to a variety of problems in black hole physics, early universe cosmology, nuclear physics, and condensed matter physics, and it had stimulated a number of major developments in pure mathematics.

Then that gave me a headache when my mind followed the lead of the current known theories and instantly went to Faster Than Light travel and Quantum communication. I realized that it also led to what I called hyperspace theory and the navigation of its layers and how I would break the barrier between dimensions to open a stable hyperspace window. This would allow a vessel to enter subspace and achieve faster-than-light velocities relative to real space while traveling at sublight speeds within its own layer of subspace.

I stopped there; it was scary what my mind conjured up when I was sufficiently bored. I just wanted to test the knowledge and use the skills in applied mathematics and chaos theory I had pilfered. My hands itched to find a damn blackboard and take notes to write down formulas, but I made do with my internal diary for now.

I was intrigued by what Goldie was doing to my body. As an escape, I began entering in deep meditation just like sensei had taught me. Emily helped by doing the same as me and we quickly found balance, I was the yang, she was the yin and vice versa. I sank deep inside myself and was able to feel the repairs Goldie was doing to my back and more precisely on my spine and spinal cord.

Extra-dimensional tesseract symbiotes were able to fix or cure what ailed their host, by replacing some of the elements that didn't work in their body, like failing organs or creating new legs with part of themselves. Goldie decided to not do any of that and directly take what was damaged and reconstruct it, thanks to my microkinesis that she copied, she was able to do just that and as I focused more my vision changed and I was able to see some kind of golden energy… being exchanged and suffusing my body.

*What the hell is that?*

It circulated into my body through some kind of channels. I knew the human body in and out because of how much control my TK gave me over it, but this was the first time I was seeing those arteries- and were those fucking meridians? Oh shit, please don't let this become a chinese cultivation novel Emily told me about, I don't want to become a bullshit person like those people. Those channels went through my organs and brain.

It was beautiful in a way, the way the energy slowly circulated and helped in fixing what was broken. Goldie was directly using my life force after feeding me the essence? Life force? Of the people she had eaten. It didn't horrify me, what I let her do, all those clones and people on base were my enemies. As an afterthought I tried to touch the golden energy but it was like attempting to grasp air. It was weird, different from psionic or cosmic energy that had a more physical aspect to it, this energy was… this Chi, this was life force, spiritual energy. There was a trick to harness it. I was kinda bored and decided to continue to try. I don't know how long I spent trying but I finally got the trick by spreading my awareness all over my body and with an act of will, touch my Chi. It felt strange, it was as if I had poked my and Emily's own soul.

[_Irritated_: Please, stop that. Working, I am.]

*Oops, sorry.* I apologise, then dozing off to let Goldie complete her task. When I came to consciousness again, Goldie was still hard at work. I'd asked her on the progress and she informed me that the operation was almost complete. I deduced that she wasn't simply fixing but modifying bone structure, making my bones stronger somehow. I didn't yell at her, but she could have asked. Goldie was just like me- actions first, apologies later.

I was finally understanding why she was saying we are one, she didn't like being squishy so she made some change. *You could have asked, Goldie.*

[_Worried_: Thank me later, you will.]

*Don't be sassy with me young lady!* I warned her; she was being bad.

I felt how smug she was as she continued to work. But she understood that I wouldn't let the matter rest even if she ignored me. Though she still kissed me mentally as if to reassure me of her intention. Unable to shrug I still did it in my mind and got back to try Chi manipulation. With Goldie working on me, I tried to not touch my Chi but decided to see how everything worked.

To help me in this task, I decided to tap into my symbiotes racial memories, Goldie seemed to intrinsically understand how life energy worked and could be used. The knowledge was extensive and Goldie didn't limit it, giving me everything I could conceptually understand. When Emily and I delved into our body this time, I understood what I was seeing.

Goldie was basically transmuting my bones with life energy to make them denser, she also reinforced my muscles into an explosive mix of power and stamina, she had cut off my ability to feel pain, that was why I wasn't suffering as she worked on me.

*Fascinating.*

Following the meridians linking my head, heart, lung, arms and hands, intestine, feet, I noticed how the Chi accumulated in some kind of energy center in my lower belly. The Chi focused here, then it surged and went into another energy center at the level of the heart. The same thing happened again between my eyebrows.

Goldie's memories told me that everything could be even more efficient if I accumulated more Chi from outside and refined it to unlock those channels and all my energy centers.

**This is cultivation alright.** Emily snarked.

I couldn't start when Goldie was still working as it could interrupt what she was doing which might be fatal. Just looking how the energy worked soothed me and slowly as I focused I began sending my awareness outward, and sure enough, Chi was everywhere. The trick to touch it and pull it into me wasn't complicated, the place seemed to be filled with outside Chi anyway, so I did it.

I noticed how murky it was compared to the energy inside my body, the knowledge of Goldie showed me how to refine it. I had to make it circulate in my first energy center, in my lower belly and send the impurities outside. It was hard at first, the energy didn't want to separate, it was rocky and earthy in nature, but I imagined it going through a filter and it separated the rock like energy and took the pure Chi inside of me, adding it to my store.

I don't know how long it took me but I felt as if something was breaking and before I could stop it did. The Chi was like a maelstrom inside of me, it settled and I noticed how the Chi inside me was stronger.

**Welp, Jeanie you just broke through.** Emily explained what I've just gone through.

I shuddered. *Hng, please stop, I am not a Cultivator!*

Emily laughed, thinking I was being ridiculous. **But you'll do it again, you got some channels cleared and your first dantian unlocked.**

It was just like she said, my Klyntar's knowledge was exactly describing the process as she did. *How do you know all this?!*

**I was a bored mom and reading tons of chinese cultivation shit. Now, continue.** Jean saw Emily shrug in her mindscape and return to her meditation.

[_Affirmation_: More essence! More power!] Goldie intervened, she suddenly had more energy to work with and finish Jean's tune up.

Sigh.*I was getting bored anyway.*

It took time but I cleared my channels that became thicker and denser, allowing me to circulate more energy. I unlocked my second energy center near my heart. A surge of vitality spread throughout my body and my Chi heavier in my body, it had gained substance instead of being that wispy golden energy. Almost like a liquid. I felt stronger. Healthier.

**Only one left. Goldie is almost done too. The third one, I think it's going to be a lot tougher; the area between the eyebrows is often depicted as the third eye. We may be able to see some supernatural stuff if you unlock it.**

That was disturbing, I was already seeing weird stuff in people's mind; but seeing the supernatural was kind of spooky. There's been something bothering me since I started that cultivation thing and I asked aloud to Emily, *You know… aren't we going too fast with that stuff? I mean shouldn't it take years for us to be able to do shit like that?*

Emily stiffened, scowled and sent her awareness outside of us. She could do everything I could, despite believing my body didn't belong to her, too- we shared everything. Since I gained awareness as a toddler she had always been here.

Emily took in our surrounding and focused on how the Chi outside flowed. **There's an abundance of Chi around us, this shouldn't be possible but I feel like we are being helped.**

I understood what she was saying. There should've been less and less energy as we took it all in, but that wasn't happening. *Someone is boosting us!*

I landed in my mindscape and looked at Emily who sighed heavily and sat on the sofa of the representation of my home in Annandale-on-Hudson. There's only one thing able to mess with life energy that we know off.

Stepping back, I couldn't prevent the fear that creeped up on me. I... I didn't like where my mind was taking me. *Em, please don't scare me like that.*

Emily walked up to me, placing her hands on my shoulders, levelling me with a glare. **Stop trying to not see it! You know she's been manipulating our lives since Annie died. She's been sitting in the astral plane watching us, helping or letting us not… realize some shits.**

My memories instantly came on the fact that I suddenly had the cosmic equivalent of pyrokinesis, me able to see life force without meaning to train for it like Elektra or any member of the Chaste would, how people seemed to see me. I wasn't that scary, I think?

**(Very good.)** A voice similar to mine, albeit more mellifluous, rang in our mindscape.

I wasn't surprised that a fiery version of a bird manifested in our mindscape and looked at us too. I was frozen and looking at the bird of fire who stared at us two. Emily immediately placed herself between us.

**(I have been observing you, yes.)**

Emily is my role model; nothing scared her much. **Why do you want her that badly? You could easily find another host.**

The firebird flapped its wings and cocked her head. **(Not a perfect one such as you two.)**

My eyebrows rose at that, It wasn't just me she wanted, but Emily, too? Why? This was completely different from what she has been telling me would happen after my powers manifested.

**Me? But I am a tagalong, this is Jean's body! I don't matter.** I noted the sliver of panic buried in her tone.

Again, it bothered me how she saw herself; she wasn't a nobody to me. She'd saved me, taught me valuable things and allowed me to be free.

The Phoenix shook its head, pointed a wing at Emily and said, **(You are one and the same, I don't understand why you stay separated. You two should have fused since long ago.)**

From the look on Emily's face, one would think that the Phoenix had struck her. She'd only calmed down when I grasped her hand in mine. She breathed in, even though she didn't need to and stared at the firebird. **Fused?**

I poked Emily who turned to me. *She's not the first one to say that to us, remember, the Ancient One.*

The firebird nodded and we stared at her. **(A really wise woman, that is rare in this backwater galaxy.)**

I gaped, *Wow, she's dissing the milky way, Em.*

Emily rolled her eyes. **What did you think would happen? She's been seeing more advanced civilizations in Kree space or the Andromeda galaxy.**

I glared at the firebird, why did it seem like she was being insulting? I walked up to the bird and raised my chin, holding her gaze fiercely. *I don't like it, but just you wait, we will make Earth awesome. Birdy.*

Emily pulled me back and whispered, **Could you respect her and not give her cute names? She can still vaporize us.**

I grinned and shook my head. *No she needs us. We should go back to our cultivation, she's just gonna do whatever she wants.*

Emily slapped my arm, clearly annoyed with me and crossed her arms over her chest, speaking loudly for Phoenix to hear, **Deal.**

When I turned to Phoenix, I saw her impenetrable expression breaking into a mask of indifference. Was it just me or did the firebird glare at me? Must have been my imagination, yep, totes that. Emily and I attempted to leave our mindscape, but we stood firmly fixed in place.

**(You'll have to fuse to leave, or you'll die.)** And just like that she disappeared in a column of fire.

Okay I didn't anticipate that; that bird is being vindictive! *Em, what do we do?* I turned to Emily who stood in place with a calculating gaze.

Our bodies could finally move and Emily went to sit on the sofa. Jean come here.

I obeyed and sat at her side, at the same time she put an arm around my shoulder and said, **How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard…**

*Em?*

**There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends or family. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature. When I first awoke in a tiny body and you were here, I began just observing. You were such a little wonder. You reminded me of my own child. You remember? I was always telling you to not do this or that. It wasn't before you got burned by a hot pot that you finally listened.**

Being this close to Emily for sixteen years had given me insight in how she thought. She didn't like how the bird forced us to do this, but she took it in stride; there was no hesitation on her part. Telepathy could be a boon, but today it was a curse to me. My vision became blurry, and I wiped my eyes, realizing tears had escaped.

I lifted my head and looked at the older woman. *Em, please... you… this isn't the end, you won't leave me right?* I squeezed her in a hug and she returned the embrace just as tightly.

She laughed and patted my back. **Leave you? No I'm not, we are going to fuse.**

I pulled away and then glared at her. *I don't want to lose you, I don't want to.*

**You are not, I will still be there.** Emily said as she poked my head, then my heart.

*Don't serve me that sappy bullshit.* I knew that she was sacrificing herself for me, that she thought she didn't matter, that I should have always been the one at the helm. Scratch that, it's our body and-

Emily smiled, put a hand on my cheek and I saw her eyes shimmering with tears. **I don't want you to die, if I must give you everything I am I would do it without hesitation.** She sobbed, wiped tears from her face and tried to laugh them off, but the sound was just choked.

She didn't fool anyone, certainly not me. But she tried really hard. **Don't see it as us parting ways. This is not goodbye. Never say goodbye, because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting. You won't forget me, will you?**

There was no way I would; she was more of a big sister to me than Sarah or Julia. Emily had always been here. If she said something then I'd believe it was true as she had always been mostly right. But who would be here to pick me up when I fell, who was going to hug me when loneliness crept in? It had been her presence that had helped me get through the whole school bullying ordeal.

No. I needed to grow up, I couldn't continue to depend on her like this. I wiped at my cheeks.*I owe you more than my life, you are the reason that I am not a half lobotomized drone who answers to the rapist baldy's wishes. Okay, I will buy that you won't disappear, but if you do… I will find a way to get you back, you hear me?*

**Crystal, come here baby.** She gave me a dazzling smile, her curly locks tickling my nose as we hugged again.

I shouted indignantly mid hug, *I am not a baby!*

As she began chuckling in my ear, she gave me the impression she was humoring me. **Yes, yes. Here.**

It was at that moment that we turned into our astral form despite ourselves. Emily's golden yellow aura shone like the sun was completely different from my ruby red one. Our astral bodies became translucent, then we fell into each other. I understood then that we were fusing and that I too would be subsumed with Emily to become someone new.

As usual, she was right, we were not disappearing, we would be together forever. My thoughts were suddenly blank and I couldn't think of anything.

**# # #**

I opened my eyes. I felt strange, completely different, stronger than ever. My legs and arms finally responded to the orders my brain gave them. Information flowed through my brain, two souls becoming one and forming another whole.

I wasn't just Jean Grey, I was also Emily. That fact brought a smile to my face; we were still there but in a more complete fashion. What just happened to me was putting into perspective for me what really mattered. When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.

And we would be there together for each other. I knew why love was always described with eternity. A single minute stretched out for lifetimes and sometimes, in those moments people came together for a short time as that was the design of that relationship. Sometimes, it's a lifetime. Sometimes, it's much longer than one life on Earth.

I opened my eyes and my gaze shot around me. I was still within the green like water in the holding pod I was imprisoned in. There was only one thing left to do. Continuing my cultivation, it was done rapidly when I quickly but carefully drew on the outside Chi and made my breakthrough. I unlocked my upper dantian and the world was never the same again.

[_Happiness_: Completely fixed we are.]

*Goldie, thank you! You deserve all the chocolate we are going to steal!*

The symbiote reacted to that; I felt something like glee and anticipation coming from her. I focused my will and tried shattering the glass but it stayed intact, not even a glimmer of a crack appearing. *Ah yeah, there must be an inhibitor on this pod.*

I kept trying, I even began to punch the glass with my fist but it did nothing. It pissed me off. I kept trying, until I was suddenly brought back to my mindscape, Phoenix was there before my sofa looking at me as if she was disappointed.

**(You limited yourself.)** She stated.

"What?" I don't understand her, I was giving my all to escape!

Her bird head shook as she read my mind. **(You limited yourself and I want to know why,? Was it to fit into that box your mortal enemy placed you in?)**

"No, it isn't! Please... I-I want to live! I want to kill him, see him being driven before me as I take everything from him!" There were so many people awaiting for my return, Mom, Dad, Cindy, Jess and my friends. No way that I was going to give up now!

**(I've got advice for you then. Don't think, do not try, when you try you fail. To succeed you must do, do or do not, there is no try.)**

D-did the Phoenix Force just quote Yoda…? But I understood what she meant, I must unlearn what I have learned. I keep failing because I didn't believe in myself, that I could win. I closed my eyes, cleared my mind, then I let go. I destroyed the lid that I had covering the well of power inside me, no more will I use it as a crutch. Pure and unadulterated power filled me, it couldn't be contained and I didn't even try to.

It was like plunging into the sublime seas, diving deep, and swimming far, till I reached the depth of the ocean. I joined hands with it. And my world ended. And the next one began as Psionic energy thickly spilled out of my body and invaded the room I was in.

I opened my eyes and looked at the glass separating me from freedom. *There is only the force.*

The glass broke or I should say the forcefield broke and the rest of the pod and the cables linked to me turned to dust. My body levitated from the ground. A cackle escaped me as I reveled in my power. It was hard to believe I was once afraid of it. This was awesome. My power was enough to reshape the world to my designs and you know what? I possessed the will ll to see it through.

Huh, I was naked, I floated toward a wall and transmuted it into a reflective surface and what I saw horrified me. My hair, my beautiful, luscious locks, were now completely shoulder length! My voluminous mane of red hair that I took care of for my entire sixteen years had been snipped. That was it, Sinister went too far this time! Even if it takes me an eternity, I will make you pay! "I will murder you, you and all the monsters you created, one after another, until you've been wiped from the surface of the earth!" I raged, my blood damn near boiling.

Goldie responded to my hatred and asked me if it was finally time to kill our enemies. "Yes, yes it is my dear." And just like that, Goldie covered my entire form. As she was giving me our battleform, I let her sift through my mind for a good look for it. Memories of one Gabby Garcia, the White Widow came to mind and my symbiotes took her costume and morphed into it.

Where Gabby's costume was white, mine was gold, where her's was black, mine was red. Instead of a spider symbol, a dark Phoenix force one was emblazoned on my chest.

I noticed that I was taller and more muscular than before, strange. My hair had more of a curl to it, and my breasts had grown again it seemed. I shrugged, *I will think about that later, the fusion with Emi must have brought those changes.*

"Game on." Goldie covered my head like a full mask that concealed my features. Then, I shrank in a puddle and teleported with my new adapted power into the air duct and up on the wall and slithered into it, just in case I covered myself in my cloaking field. I was surprised that no one was checking on the room, and the pod with all the power I used. I retraced Goldie's previous path and went directly to the kitchen.

I wasn't surprised to see people working there, even though one of them died here. Are they that dumb? My telepathy told me that they were so brainwashed they barely had the ability to think for themselves. I didn't lose time with them, I simply bound them all, they stopped moving and stood where they were.

I exited the air duct and fell on the ground in my humanoid form. I held my hand before me and sharp looking red claws replaced my fingers. I smiled and began to systematically kill everyone by slashing their throat. Red ocher oozed from the line across their neck, staining their clothes and aprons.

Once they;d been drained of blood, they fell to the ground, dead. The entire kitchen was coated red in their blood. I levitated not wanting to cover my soles with blood and leave footprints. I raided the pantry, took food for myself and chocolate based products for Goldie. And for evil's sake I used my TK to make the blood flow inside the pantry, staining everything: vegetables, water. I made incisions in the bag of flour and spoiled it all.

It was a must to always cut off the supply of the enemy if the opportunity presented itself, and starve them. Even though I was stronger and in complete control of myself. This place must be a main base of that asshole Sinister and there must be significantly more powered people and allies of his inside. I was ready to put an end to this now. Determined to obliterate everything. I cloaked and exited the kitchen, left the armored door open for the cooks to be found. I floated slowly in the corridor and then a shrill sound rang everywhere, there were speakers embedded in the walls.

**Attention, a subject has escaped, the base will be on lock down.**

*Oh they finally noticed.* I chuckled as shutters closed and sealed the corridor I was in.

Hearing footsteps behind me, I made a double take, my gaze landing on the man who'd attacked me before I was captured. He wasn't alone, there was another man who could be assumed to be his twin brother running alongside him. They quickly found the kitchen and saw the bodies strewn here and there bathing in pools of their own blood.

The black guy felt nauseous. "Shit."

His clone was even more disturbed by the scene."What happened here?!"

As they stepped back, one of them took some kind of rectangular device from his pocket and spoke into it after pushing a button. "Boss, it's blockbuster 1. I entered the kitchen and… the clones staff... they are all dead, this is a literal sea of blood in here!"

A gasp was audible from the device's speakers. _"She was there! Find her!"_

Of course I was here, dumbass. Now you are going to send your men to the slaughter to catch me, good. Bring them all.

The black guy in charge looked quietly at his dark blue uniformed clone. Then spoke again in the communication device. "But boss…"

_"Do it."_ I heard the steel in Sinister's voice. There was no doubt it was him. Theatrically the man sighed. "Understood."

He pocketed his communicator and spoke to his counterpart who didn't seem enthused about finding me. "Let's go find her, she must be weak after escaping that pod."

Decloaking I appeared behind them, my face becoming visible when my Klyntar uncovered my head. "Oh, I assure you, I feel quite fine." I said aloud and started speed reading his mind.

The black man man was called Michael Baer or better known as Blockbuster, a mercenary and an assassin that was hired by Sinister; he was eventually brainwashed to be my nemesis' bitch. Sinister had created a literal army of this guy, there may be fifty of them on this base. What was worse, was that Sinister updated the memories of all his clones every week.

It didn't come as a surprise when recognition flashed across his face at the sight of me. He and his clone said at the same time, "Bitch!"

I smiled tightly. "Oh, you remember me. That's great. I kicked your ass the last time we fought and…" My eyes turned to his clone. "How sweet you've brought your brother to get his cheeks clapped too."

They attacked in tandem at that, lunging at me. I didn't even have to raise my hand to freeze them with my TK. The two men stopped one meter from me in midair, breathing heavily. Before the face of the one who insulted me, I smiled devilishly. "I am going to kill all of you cloned bastards."

My eyes turned to the one who had attacked me in New York. "But first, I'm going to take your brother's head and stick it up your booty hole."

I decapitated the one on the left with a thought. His head rolled on the ground, a pool of blood forming slowly. The one who had attacked me was now soiling himself.

*Disgusting.* I disintegrated his pants and undies and did just what I said I would. Now I needed to send a message to everyone here, something that would get the point across of what I was about to do.

As the head of his cloned brother floated toward him, the man shook like a leaf, looking at me as if I was the devil incarnate. I shoved the head where I said I would. Blockbuster's screams were music to my ears.

**# # #**

**(Sinister)**

**Audience room**

Waving at his subordinate, Sinister mumbled, "Bring him to me."

Fortunately, it was audible enough for the guard at his side. "Yes, master."

The normal clone took his communicator and spoke some orders into it. It was ten seconds later that the adamantium reinforced door to the audience room opened and two other clones were transporting a black man in a blue uniform on a gurney. Something indescribable was done to him and Sinister couldn't believe he had survived it. Grey was dangerous- in more ways than he could fathom.

*How did she escape?* Nathaniel asked himself.

He had gone all out on her adamantium holding pod, the most powerful power inhibitor and forcefield generator he could design and backed by two fusion batteries. The system diagnostic after that failure had shown that the forcefield capacitors had fried and not been able to hold on. This brief analysis shouted to him that the girl had woken up and immediately destroyed the apparatus holding her.

Yet again, Nathaniel felt he had underestimated the girl. He'd been disregarding the signs, the way she could even unconsciously shrug off any attempts of his to subvert or use her in any way. Nathaniel's attention focused on the clone. The man's belly bulged as though he were pregnant, and he kept mewling in pain at each movement of the clones transporting him.

*As I thought, she was in no way the kind soul of the woman he once met. She had gotten more vicious, before she would have just killed everyone without theatrics, but what she did here was just gruesome.*

"Ack… argh." Blockbuster turned and twisted in the gurney.

Nathaniel looked on impassively at the spectacle, he would have felt the psionic power insinuating itself into the black man's body if he had focused enough. Blockbuster's body slackened, then he stopped moving. When he sat upright, Nathaniel immediately knew something was very wrong. The clone looked directly at him and smiled predatorily. Nathaniel wasn't worried; there weren't many things that could threaten him. Blockbuster opened his mouth and his voice was replaced by a feminine one that Nathaniel was really familiar with. Natahniel flinched, his eyes wide at the psionic field that deployed all over the base.

_"Sinister. This is where your story ends, although I am sure that there was a way out planned for you, I have a feeling that's not what you want."_ The tone of voice was serious and clipping.

*The girl, she's speaking as if she knew something about my future!* Nathaniel realized, standing up but mere moments later he was sent back on his throne by a powerful force.

He looked at Blockbuster, whose body began to smoke and to be covered in yellow orange lines.

_"But I have a feeling that you are right where you want to be."_ There was a chuckle before the message continued. _"I am remaining as well, I am nearby. This place will not be remembered; and the memory of everything that started this, will finally begin to fade away; as the agony of every tragedy should."_ The message became even more threatening.

The psionic field thickened so much that it became visible, golden yellow aura spread all over the base. Miss Grey then began to address everyone, _"and to you monsters trapped in the corridors, be still and give up your spirits, they don't belong to you."_

The chuckling intensified. _"For most of you, I believe there's still peace and perhaps more waiting for you after the smoke clears, although for you Sinister, the darkest pit of hell has opened to swallow you, so do not keep the devil waiting for too long. It's not me trapped in here with you, no, it's you trapped in here with me!"_

A burst of emotions spread to everyone. It wasn't anger though, no, it was thick, hot rage, A rage so strong and vengeful that it oozed of retributory and punishment for an offense. Biblical Wrath. After being used as a proxy messaging device, Blockbuster's body simply exploded in a shower of gore everywhere in Nathaniel's audience room.

Strips of flesh, blood and bones had splattered all over him and the guards in the audience room. Nathaniel took a kerchief out of his costume's hidden pocket and wiped off the blood and brain coating parts of his face. He held onto the slip of fabric and stared at the blood staining it. *Fine, I will give you the fight you desire. *

"Call down the powered clones!" Nathaniel commanded, raising again and pointing fingers.

But before one of the guards could move, the base… no the entire mountain began to shake, people and items were now levitating in place, until red light shone everywhere and then, **BOOOOOOOM**. The mad scientist was projected back onto his throne and a forcefield bubble surrounded him while the ceiling crumbled on everyone else in the room.

After ten seconds, the shaking subsided but Nathaniel looked around and up. The sun and the blue sky was visible, the audience room open to elements. He slammed his fists against the armrests of his throne.

"Call someone to get those clones out of the rubble! Call the powered soldiers now!" Nathaniel screamed at the surviving clone guards who were extricating themselves from under the big chunks of rocks.

**# # #**

**Back with Jean…**  
**Sinister Valley**

Looking at my handy work, I ripped away a good chunk of the mountain Sinister's base was ensconced in. It was extensive, with multiple levels. I was satisfied with the level of damage I inflicted and cloaked. Flying deep into the jungle, I landed in a meadow with a water stream, my awareness spread all over it. There were strangely no foes or beasties here.

The jungle was an assault on all senses. The virescent hues were the foreground, the background and as high up as you could see. The heat and humidity pressed in on my skin making sweat pointless. The sounds of the insects, the birds and the larger animals created a symphony of nature calling you deeper.

As I walked among the bushes, the leaves brushed up against me and my feet sprung up with each step. The air tasted sweet and fresh, making it feel like flowers were blooming on my tongue. There was a giant tree and under it a cave. I entered it, the cavern's walls were covered in moss. An animal had lived here and it didn't smell great inside.

My TK aura spread all over the interior, and I disintegrated the moss and mushrooms, the animal feces and urine. I packed the earth inside and the ground became grey, visibly gaining the consistency of smooth stone. I created airways to allow oxygen to pass through. My klyntar battle form melted into me, replaced by the clothes I wore when I got ambushed by the marauders, I remembered them from the comic books.

There were a number of them, and if I knew Sinister like he was in the different media I saw in my other life then he would have cloned them in multiple batches. It reminded me that I was unaware of what date it was. Goldie the ever helpful symbiote produced the communicator that was some kind of mini walkie talkie and the tactile tablet that everyone seemed to use in Sinister's base.

I logged in into the tablet that reminded me of a Surface Pro 6, the same thickness and weightlessness. The operating system was completely different from the Linux or Windows one that I used in my other life. I brushed a strand of hair out of my field of vision, the bangs irking me now. The climate was sweltering and Goldie reacted to my need, getting rid of my jacket, leaving me in my tank top.

Breathing in and out I sealed the entrance with a thought, the earth raised at the base of the cave and I transmuted it into rocks. *This Do or Do not shit was really helpful, thanks Phoenix.*

**(You are welcome.)**

I jumped up in surprise, hitting my head on the cave's ceiling. I cradled the top of my head, crying out and a mellifluous laugh could be heard in my head. I don't know when it'd happened but the firebird was now embedded deeply in my mindscape.

"What are you doing here? I thought you would go back to the astral plane!"

**(I am the Phoenix Force. I can do what I want, and technically I am in the astral plane on our chosen island. Observing you, like you would observe reality TV.)** I heard her sniff at me.

"Wow, my life is weird." I found it strange that the PF was having human reactions.

She stayed silent at that which was fine with me.I made the tablet float to me and looked at the date and time. My mind suddenly froze, "It's not possible! No!"

[_Distress_: Jean-Host?]

"Goldie, how long was I in the pod?"

[_Clarification_: Thirty revolutions, since you were in the prison.] Goldie showed me that a revolution was the time it took the planet to turn on itself. The cycle of night and day.

My mind went blank. Thirty days. It'd been a whole month since I was captured. Thirty days that my mom, dad and Cindy had to endure in anguish without me.. If I wanted to kill Sinister before, it was nothing compared to now. Goldie reabsorbed the tablet into herself and I sat in the middle of the cave and instantly found my center and entered my mindscape. Inside I located the link to Jessica that represented a phone.

I took it in hand and from it felt emotions that my best friend shouldn't have. Sadness and sorrow, longing. I put the telephone handset near my ears and mouth and spoke. "Jessica?"

**I must be dreaming, I felt like I heard Jean.** I heard her think, a sad note in this thought which went straight to my heart, cracking it.

"Babe, you aren't dreaming. It's me." I assured her.

Everything stopped and my mindscape was suddenly invaded by a pink haired girl. Jean? JEAN! When she saw me, she tackled me and held onto me.

I patted her back. "I am here, I escaped but I was put under for thirty days."

She looked at me, though the mental representation of myself must have not changed even though Emily and I had fused. **Where are you? Where can I get to you?** Her expression was full of determination. Jessica was able to fly fast, we clocked her at below mach one because she doesn't have anything to protect her that could support her acceleration.

I shook my head sadly. "You can't, it seems that I am somewhere in Africa. I don't know exactly where."

She deflated, **I can't fly that far… but… but, I am so glad to hear that you are safe.** Jessica hugged me again and I let her.

I hated to be the bearer of bad news. "Safe? I am not. If I run, Sinister will just hunt me down and take me back, he might also take the gloves off and capture you and the rest of our friends."

For the first time I saw Jessica's anger directed at someone else than the company whose truck killed her parents and brother. Her gaze became sharper. **So that bastard is called Sinister?** It sounds like a Bond villain name…

"His real name is Nathaniel Essex, an immortal enhanced bastard with too much money and power, smarts and resources. I'm going to kill him and everyone with him." My mindscape literally vibrated at my uncontained wrath- uncontained because it was that great.

Jessica looked around her, unsure of what was happening. As she refocused on me, she stared into my eyes, voice shaking. **K-kill him? Jean are you… yes you are serious I see it in your eyes.**

I changed the subject, clutching her hand. "Can you do something for me?"

**Anything.** Jessica looked at me earnestly.

Smiling, I told her to, "Go see my parents, Cindy and our friends and tell them that I'm fine for now. I will come back when I am done killing everyone." My hair rose as psionic energy surged into my mindscape.

Jessica stepped back. **Jean…**

"They are threatening my life, my family, my friends… It has to stop. **I will make them stop.**" Phoenix appeared at that moment, startling Jessica who looked between her and then at me.

**You are scaring me.** She whispered, her voice so little and so unlike her.

I levitated to her, and put a hand on her cheek. "Don't be, this has always been what it would have taken to make Sinister stop."

*Hmm.* My mental field that was spread over the valley was detecting thoughts protected by those telepathic overlay things Sinister developed. They couldn't fool me in a deserted place like this, human thoughts had a texture that was inimitable. "I must leave, Jess. There are people trying to find me in the jungle."

**Jean! Wait!**

I turned to her. "Yes?"

**I may be scared but I want you to get back intact, okay? Do whatever you have to do to come back to us.**

"Thanks Jess, I needed that. Truly."

I waved her away and her astral form disappeared from my mindscape. I was back in the cave, then I stood up, weighing the pros and cons of going into Klyntar battleform. After some moments, I found that I didn't want to. Goldie must stay a secret, and if the fights are isolated I'd no doubt transform. I planned on using my main power set, my newly acquired Chi manipulation and continue to harvest powers with Goldie.

But just in case… Goldie formed a thigh holster with a magazine pouch on my tactical belt, I was now equipped with one of the P226 pistols we had stolen from SHIELD with three full clips. She added the tactical knife and sheathed my hands in black tactical gloves. The reason it wasn't dark in the cave was because I'd manifested a construct of psionic energy in a spherical form all around, though everywhere was red and yellow because of the light.

However, I must fight smart too, instead of blundering all along and making mistakes like I ended up doing for the past years. I'd rely on Agent Shane and Elektra-sensei's knowledge and training. Switching methodology and focus, I cleared my mind, and placed myself into a calm and mindful state; the result was my sense of awareness increased far above a human's.

My body filled with Chi while I absorbed it from the outside and made it mine to fill my energy centers. All around me things became enhanced, like the colors, the wind, smells, my hearing and even my Klyntar enhanced vision.

*Okay, I will take out some of those clone scouts, rip information from their mind and then depending on what I find I will get back into the base and deny my enemies resources and kill the powered fucks there.* I nodded, cloaked, then teleported inside the base.

**# # #**

**(Sinister)**

**Meeting room**

Seated at the long table in front of him were fourteen of his powered clones, technically enough of them to take out that crazed girl. Sinister smiled and put his hand on the table before him. He had brainwashed each of them to believe that he was their ultimate master when they reached a suitable age of development in his manufactured artificial wombs.

On the left of the ornate white marble table was Hans. Massive, muscular, blond haired and with beady red eyes, he was the culmination of all the experiments with mutants and other superhuman individuals since WWII that Nathaniel had practiced. He was bred as the perfect mutant. Hans was genetically engineered from several other mutant's DNA, he had Superhuman strength, speed, durability, flight, an accelerated healing factor and optic blasts.

Nathaniel was proud of the fact that he had patterned him to be as close to Superman as possible; his creature was what the Nazis had wanted their ubermensch to be. Next to Hans was Vertigo, a lithe and green haired woman hailing from the legendary Savage Lands with the power of Psionic Equilibrium Distortion. She was able to project swirling mental waves of psionic distortion into her environment that affect the nervous systems of other living beings, focusing on the organs of the inner ear, causing extreme vertigo, nausea, disorientation, and having them experience hallucinations.

Her distortion waves could render others unconscious, and like Scrambler, could also interfere with the superhuman powers of others, preventing their use or causing them to function incorrectly. To Sinister, amongst all of his subordinates, she was the most important right now. It was her who'd permit him to retrieve Jean Grey intact. On Vertigo's side was an armored man, a clone of Senyaka, a mutant able to drain the bio-electrical essence of others upon physical contact. The living energy he drained augmented his natural strength, endurance, and reflexes, as well as accelerating his recuperative powers significantly.

The man was a savage, just like his original. *Well, Magneto killed the original for his bloodthirstiness…* When Gambit sent him the DNA sample of the man

The last clone on the left was Empath, a really disliked clone of a rapist and sexual offender who could use Empathy like his name suggested. Though it was his Pathokinesis that was the really bothersome ability he possessed. He had the ability to psionically control one emotion at a time, affecting many targets in the same area during that time or controlling the emotional states of multiple victims. He could change the amount of control he exerted over his victims, such as a simple emotional push or complete emotionless zombies who bowed to his every whim.

The women here avoided him like the plague. Nathaniel kept having to clone him because he was murdered every three months by the local women population. Nathaniel barely tolerated him, disliking him greatly.

To the right of the table were the most interesting mutants he had at his beck and call. The one to his right was the clone of Fiona Knoblach, a powerful psionic and ancestor of Jean Grey. He had found her original in the 1900s after Fiona founded the Sisterhood, an organization of psychic female mutants. Her original wasn't dead and still lived as her Sisterhood grew into an organization with global influence, especially within the United States.

She was immortal and possessed precognitive powers as well as the normal host of psionic powers such as telepathy and telekinesis. At her side was Jeanne-Marie Beaybier, Fiona's friend; she was a clone of Aurora, a mutant member of Alpha Flight, one of the secret powered assets of the Canadian government. She was able to use photokinesis. Next to Aurora was a clone of Northstar, they shared almost the same power set. Each was able to fire concussive blasts and control how powerful the shots were, flying at 770 miles per hour at sea level. They moved faster than the human eye could follow.

Technically those two were twins and able to use a Gestalt Photokinesis should they link hands they could generate a light equivalent to a lighthouse beacon by each sibling varying the rate of acceleration of his or her own molecules out of phase with those of the other's.

At Northstar's side and flirting with him was the clone of Chimera, the clone of an interdimensional pirate of questionable sanity. A blue eyed blond, tall and curvaceous woman, clad in a leather outfit flattering her female form. Nathaniel had cloned her when he obtained a sample of her DNA after she appeared from a dimensional rift. The original and him had come to blow and he made her bleed enough, she fled through another rift, of course.

Chimera could generate ectoplasmic bursts in the form of telekinetic dragons to strike enemies both physically and psionically. She also had telepathy enabling her to read minds and create illusions. Due to the nature of her powers, it was getting rather difficult to keep her docile and obedient; the brainwashing machine's programming tended to not stick more than two months with her.

*I may have to eliminate her.*

Unknown to Sinister, as he looked at the familiar faces of Gambit, Scalphunter and Vanisher who he had cloned last month, Chimera stared at him with a calculating gaze and quickly averted her eyes.

At last, Havok and Sunfire's turn, with Hans they were his strongest hitter. Nathaniel's Havok was a clone of Alexander Summers, Scott Summers' little brother. The sample of his DNA had been easy to appropriate in his orphanage in Omaha, Nebraska. Havok was able to convert ambient cosmic energy and process it into plasma.

This results in control over an extremely powerful sort of destructive force. He could also absorb energy from other sources other than the cosmic sort, fly, shoot or emanate plasma in the form of a blast or discharge, with a tell-tale concentric circle pattern. The kicker was that Havok was virtually immune to the effects of most forms of heat and virtually immune to the effects of most forms of radiation.

Sunfire… ah! Sunfire's mutant powers enable him to absorb solar and other radiation to generate the process of ionized matter (usually air) through a mentally-triggered unknown biochemical process so that it was converted to plasma, the superheated state of matter. Plasma was the state in which matter making up the sun existed; hence, Sunfire referred to his projecting as "solar fire". Hence he could sheath his body in flames.

He could fly, shoot powerful blasts of plasma and sense beings by the heat signature that they gave off. With this powerful line-up, Nathaniel was confident that he could retrieve Jean Grey.

Nathaniel took on a fond expression, spreading out his arms. "My friends, I am happy that you answered my call."

"Like we have any other choice." Someone retorted.

Nathaniel glared in the direction of Chimera and asked, "What was that?"

The woman rolled her eyes and huffed. "Again, my point."

"So why are we here for, great leader? I heard that some redhead escaped from confinement and destroyed half the base." Chimera wanted to point out that even he made mistakes.

"It is true. Jean Grey ran away and is now threatening to kill us all." Nathaniel pushed a key on a holographic keyboard and a 3D picture of Jean appeared.

Everyone looked at her picture with varying expressions. Some with anticipation, others with a dread that grew and grew.

Fiona Knoblach showed a fearful expression. She looked at Sinister who observed her in particular. Her eyes were completely dilated, a sign that she was having one of her visions. "He is right, if we don't kill her, She's going to kill us all. There's some kind of obstruction on my precognition, I don't know who is doing it but I barely get bits and pieces."

"Interesting, where do you think it's coming from?" Nathaniel wasn't surprised that this had turned to a fight to the death.

Fiona closed her eyes for a moment, focusing on what she was feeling from the ambient local psionic field. "It's a mental field, covering the entire valley."

There were clones cursing and showing displeased expressions on their face or body language.

Havok slapped his hand on the table. "Shit, seriously? There's no way she's that powerful!"

Nathaniel chuckled darkly. "Of course she is, why do you think I wanted her?"

Chimera chose to antagonize Nathaniel as usual, her chin lifting as she stared him dead in the eyes. "So let me get this straight, you kidnapped an omega level mutant and didn't think this would bite you in the ass?"

Nathaniel narrowed his gaze, glaring, and she held it the entire time until he answered, "I had no way of knowing she was omega level at the time. She's young, weakened from her stint into the holding pod and we can either capture her or kill her."

"Yes, she's just one girl, what can she do?" Gambit interrupted and laughed with Scalphunter and a Blockbuster clone.

As if the fates had heard them and decided to give them a lesson, red glass boxes began to appear one by one on the big marble table. Then the boxes disintegrated, letting the heads of dead clone soldiers squelch onto the white surface. Most of the women present stood up to either puke or step back from the table. Some of the men did the same, but Senyaka, Scalphunter, Sunfire and Vanisher weren't affected.

"Apparently, she can do that, Gambit." Nathaniel simply said.

He wasn't disturbed by her theatrics but deeply disappointed. A note slowly descended from the air and landed on the heads. He grabbed it, reading it aloud for everyone. "Imagine forests of corpses, dripping on a buffet. That's what you'll find when you descend into the valley and enter the jungle. Killing your toy soldiers was like stepping on ants; call your minions in 'cause you're gonna need more than them if you want to survive."

Sinister slammed his fist on the table, cracks appearing instantly. The crack spread all over its surface, but by some miracle the table held upright still. "Impertinent little trollop."

Nathaniel pointed a finger toward the mountain of severed heads. "You're seeing to which length she's going to take this, are any of you wanting to end up like this?"

"I will go, it's either us or her at this point." Aurora said, her brother nodding in agreement with her.

Scalphunter intervened. "Hold up people, I want to point out that something is wrong here. How did she know we were here? How is she doing this?" He was worried about operational security and to prove to him that he was right to, multiple notes appeared from midair, for specific clones.

Scalphunter took his notes and saw the sentence, "Fuck you, that's how!" The clone fumed. "I'm going to shoot that little bitch." His costume morphed into a rifle.

"You're scared, motherfucker." Hans pointed out, grinding his molars together.

"Nice fur, you look badass with it. Unfortunately, there's a pussy underneath." Senyaka read, his tone flat. It wasn't the first time someone dissed his fur armor. He looked in the air and nodded, sure that the girl behind the taunts watched them.

"Fiona has the last note." Aurora said aloud.

Everyone turned to the precog whose hands were now trembling, her eyes dilated. Nathaniel noticed that she was having a vision. Blood trickled out her nose when she looked at everyone. "What I am about to do to your annoying little club, I am going to enjoy it." Then her head popped in an explosion of gore.

"OH MY GOD, FIO!" Aurora bellowed, activating her super speed to catch Fiona's body. It was in vain, as seconds later the rest of her exploded in the same manner.

Aurora watched her empty hands with wide eyes and blood covered her entire body. Her yellow of her skintight jumpsuit was barely visible now, most of it stained in red. The mood was suddenly subdued in the room.

Nathaniel chose this moment to rally them. "I have only one order for you all, find the girl. Operational security is of course important." Sinister left the room, the others following him, but Chimera remained, hiding a note.

She was smiling as the note said, "Wanna team up?"

**# # #**

**(Hans)**

**Hans' apartment**  
**10 minutes later**

Hans was fuming. Never had he been this insulted before. He was dying to get his hands on that little harlot. He couldn't believe that he had found her attractive before. Hans had spent days watching the little harlot floating in her holding pod and fantasized day and night about her for the entire month. Now, though? He planned on tearing her apart a limb from limb. She wasn't needed alive anymore; his master would find a way to clone her and then maybe the next iteration would be more reasonable.

He entered his apartment, the automatic door switching as he swiped his access card in the electronic lock on the door. Hans stripped of his armor, letting it fall to the ground and strode to his locker embedded in the gray wall facing his bed. Again, he swiped his card and the steel gray metal door folded on the right, revealing weapons and armor that Hans had stored.

Choosing to be careful, he chose his heavy armor, but as he took his tactical vest he heard a noise from behind him. Hans turned back and saw that there was nothing. Shrugging, he returned to his business but when he turned before him was a beautiful redhead with shoulder length hair who was now touching his face.

Hans tried to move away by stepping back at super speed, for naught as he couldn't move anymore.

"Hello Hans." The voice was sultry but laced with maliciousness.

The giant man tried to move and fight but nothing happened, his body standing firmly paralyzed. "Unhand me!"

Jean Grey cackled. "No Hans, you'll all die, but you? Not yet, not before I use you like the brainless puppet you are."

"Y-you won't win! My master will kill you… and I will be there watching as he desecrates your corpse." A crazy glint appeared in his beady red eyes as he took her in.

"How crude." Her hand on his cheek covered in golden and red goo that formed claws. She slid it on his naked skin, making a cut in his cheek.

Blood oozed from the wound, and the red and gold goo sucked his essence with relish. "Now you ain't going to be so unique anymore. This is goodbye to your sentience, puppet."

Hans tried desperately to move, to fight! But he couldn't think anymore. She was robbing him of everything; he felt as the redhead was unmaking him and plunged him into oblivion.

**# # #**

**Back with Jean…**  
**2 minutes later**

This wasn't the first time I'd destroyed someone mentally. I did it with the first clones that Sinister had sent after me. But Hans had been born naturally, his mind had felt more substantial than those I've made into vegetables before and it took significantly more time. Goldie hummed in the back of my mind as she registered Hans' genome into her codex and archived his abilities.

Then I felt it click as she was now able to use a different power set than Vanisher's teleportation. All those powers would come in great use. I catalogued the knowledge that I had stolen from Hans and it showed me the different abilities and skills of everyone arrayed against me. It was daunting, but not insurmountable. I had just taken two pawns off the chessboard.

I cloaked myself once again, and began programming Hans' little pea brain with basic instruction and left a bit of my awareness with him to… pilot him, that's the word. I made my Hans puppet dress in his heavy armor and then we left to find someone I really wanted to kill and sabotage the teleportation network in the base. We wouldn't want for Sinister to resupply from his other bases.

We made a show of patrolling the corridors, the vehicle hangar where there was, I kid you not, a blimp, a plane and… how the hell could there be a Yacht in a mountain?! And who uses blimps nowadays? Those are death traps. Apparently Sinister kept the blimp out of nostalgia.

From what I pilfered from Hansy, the control center should be near. Floating to avoid knocking into one of the clone engineers, I planned to return later and end them. I followed the light, there was excellent and comprehensive signage in this base. I even found a 'you are here' map. *Did Sinister believe that he would never get invaded?*

After five minutes we were in something akin to a loading bay, people and boxes appeared in flash of lights on a pedestal. *Isn't that a fucking transporter from Star Trek? But the way it's working… looked like it was an Asgard transportation device from Stargate.* Through my power, I was able to comprehend what was occuring.

In Star Trek, people and objects were broken down into streams of subatomic particles, also called the matter stream in Star Trek. But Sinister's transporter worked like the Asgard variant; any matter targeted by an Asgard transporter was encompassed in a bright light and broken down into its base atoms, which were then transported to a designated location and reassembled.

*I want one… Fine, when I kill the asshole I will take everything he owns. Gives me more motivation to finish this.* I was going to take his base, his entire assets and form a company that would permit me to live comfortably in this world.

Deploying my awareness, I searched for any recording devices. No matter the size, I'd find them. They weren't fixed to the walls, but in the forms of little insect-like drones set up all over the loading bay. With a thought, I crushed them all, closed the door to the bay forcefully, Carrie style and ordered Hansy to kill everyone in here.

I watched as he grasped a clone's head between his hands and tore it from its body. He looked at the transporter platform with glowing red eyes, then twin beams of light struck the platform that went out in an explosion and shower of sparks. Whoever was coming to the base must be dead in transit in their base atoms.

I decloaked and manifested bladed constructs, arrows, swords, axes and threw them in the throng of fleeing or fighting clones. It was like I was the fox and they were hens, panic leading to them being killed or dismembered. I had to occasionally strike some of them, and tested my Chi powered punches and kicks that simply rend flesh or let my fist pierce them.

I also tested my own optic blasts stolen from Hans.

**Krakooom**. At first the ruby colored beam came out of my eyes far too weakly; they slammed into a clone who had a collapsible baton in his hand and lunged at me. I allowed the blast to persist and ramped up the strength until the clone's body exploded and splattered on the wall. I shunted the power back into the inter-dimensional portals that my eyes had become.

Looking at my handy work I nodded, "Wow, that's handy. I'm not going to need to study Summers for his power again. Hmm, though I would prefer to use my hands or all other my body rather than my eyes."

Goldie must have heard me as I felt something switch and I held my hand to the control station of the transporter. **KRAKOOOM**. The station was now demolished as I sustained the blast for another ten seconds.

"Well that's better, thanks Goldie."

[_Acknowledgment_: Welcome, you are.]

Hansy continued to kill and wreck the place. We finished crushing and maiming everyone in the loading room. It was when we were about to leave that I felt a familiar mind with a different texture. It reminded me of…*Gambit.* I didn't cloak this time and decided to stage a fight with myself and Hansy. I released my hold on the doors of the loading room and when it exploded, Gambit had a full view of me and Hans in a fist fight.

_WHAM_! I threw him flying out through the exploded door. Gambit jumped low on the ground supporting himself with a hand as if he was doing push ups. As Hansy sailed in the corridor and impacted the hangar door twenty meters away, the Gambit clone took a playing card between his fingers and threw it at me. With my TK aura I batted it away and it exploded. As the light and smoke descended on him, I flew toward him with super speed.

He was still fast enough to swipe his bo staff to my head. I lowered it, landed my feet on the ground and launched a palm strike that he stepped into and evaded by attempting to give me a shoulder check; Goldie upped my durability and base strength and I jumped, kneeing him in the stomach. The blow had him gasping for air and spitting out blood.

Catching him by the neck I struck him with a full power reinforced Chi punch in the solar plexus. I pierced his torso and, with a thought, Goldie oozed from me and gobbled him up. _CRUNCH. Crunch, crunch._

"That was cool." I praised, feeling more people rushing for me at super speed. As they came into the loading room, I smiled and waved at them before teleporting out of there.

**# # #**

**(Aurora and Northstar)**

**Loading Room/Transport Room**

"She's a monster." Aurora gasped as she gazed upon the handy work of Jean Grey.

Aurora had never felt horror like this before. She thought she knew what fighting was about but things like all those dead bodies and destruction of the transport room drove the point through that they were fighting for their lives.

Her brother asked, "Do you know what happened?"

She turned and glared at her twin. "No! I've just arrived."

Heavy footsteps rang behind them, and they turned, alert and ready in a fighting stance. They relaxed when they saw the giant form of Hans. "Urgh, did Gambit get her? She threw me rather far away." The giant dusted himself off causing particles of stone and dust to fall from his face as he spoke.

"Hans, what the hell happened?!" Aurora demanded, all up in the bigger man's face.

Northstar walked behind her, avoiding walking over the clones' corpses.

"I was patrolling the corridors and important installations when I saw Jean Grey teleport into the loading room, we fought and… she didn't care about collateral damage." Hans reported, still dusting himself of the stones and dust he was completely covered in. Hans looked concerned as he stared around the room."Did you see Gambit? He arrived when we were battling."

"No we didn't see-" Aurora was about to say when she saw a severed hand holding a silver bo-staff. Her face became hard when she said, "I think I found him."

"Damn, she got him!" Northstar said insensitively as he took out his communicator and said aloud, "Northstar to console, I report Gambit killed in action."

Aurora looked as her brother, clad in black and white uniform, was reporting what Hans had informed them about. As for Aurora she watched as Hans looked into the room beseechingly and especially looked guilty about the transporter platform.

*I see, she must have tricked him into destroying it.* She walked up to the big man and placed a hand on one of his biceps, thinking about how hard they felt.

Hans turned to her and watched her absently. "Yes?"

Aurora took her hand back. "Hans… can you tell us anything about her?"

The giant blond man folded his arms across his chest. "I don't know… shouldn't she just be a Telekinetic and a Telepath? She fought me on equal terms in close quarters and she's cunning, always about to deceive you and push you into making mistakes." Hans glanced to the platform again.

Aurora could tell this line of questioning was bothering him as his ego had been shattered after fighting with the ruthless and powerful Jean Grey. "I see, we should bombard her from afar with your optic blasts, my brother's concussive blast and my lightning." The black haired woman said confidently.

Hans shook his head. "Don't underestimate her, she's fast. As fast as you."

Aurora snorted at that. "No one is as fast as me or my brother in flight."

Hans chuckled gutturally. "Is this hubris I hear?"

There was off about Hans but Aurora couldn't figure out what it was. "Hans?"

The blond giant cracked his neck and shook his head as he said absently. "Forget it, I'm going to patrol again." He left her amongst the dead body and the destroyed transport room that finally gave Aurora chills.

**# # #**

**(Jessica Jones & the Grey family)**

**USA, New York, Queens**  
**December 11, 1996**  
**Grey Penthouse**  
**04:02 PM**

Jessica would have never thought that she would be beating on this door again; she had lost hope of ever seeing her best friend again. But by some miracle Jean escaped, or should Jessica say as 'expected?'

_Knock. Knock._

Jessica waited for another two minutes before she heard shuffling and someone coming to the door. The young woman who appeared at the doorway wasn't someone Jessica recognised but she noticed the shared family traits with Jean. Short red hair, though the shade was lighter, green eyes and she was beautiful, like Jean. She directed a judgemental look at Jessica who was used to such behavior from people because of her pink dyed hair and the punk rock look she sported right now.

She wore a tight fitting green t-shirt and blue jeans. Her expression was less than welcoming. "Yes?"

Jessica still smiled, looking earnest. "Is Mrs E here?"

"Who are you?" She scowled, crossing her arms under her ample chest.

Jessica couldn't help the flicker of jealousy she felt because of the good genes of the Grey. "I'm Jessica Jones, I am Jean's best friend."

It seemed that Jessica was now worth talking to as the redhead now stared at her with interest. "Ah. Is it important?"

Jessica nodded vehemently. "Terribly so."

She opened the door fully and stepped aside."Enter please."

*Don't mind if I do.* Jessica quickly entered and was ushered into the familiar living room. The difference was that there was another new redhead present and this perturbed Jessica. She had never seen them before. She slightly resembled Jean but harboured a different fashion sense that was closer to Jessica's, shoulder length hair and a less than mature attitude compared to her little sister.

She looked hostile too, but Jessica didn't mind as this was a vulnerable period for the Grey family.

The redhead who allowed her in inhaled deeply before shouting,"Mom! Jean's friend, Jessica is here!"

A few seconds later, Elaine Grey came to the living room. Jessica looked at her and she found the Grey matriarch subdued and tired looking, there were dark marks under her eyes and she wore clothes that were less cheerful than before. Elaine smiled when she saw Jessica, an improvement on her mood. "Jess, my dear. What brings you here?"

Jessica glanced at the two redheads who stared back at her with different kinds of mood and suspicions. As usual Elaine read the situation quite skillfully and waved at the other two redheads. "Oh, let me introduce you to Jean's big sisters, those are Sara and Julia."

Jessica was surprised. She had heard about Jean's big sisters; her best friend had been complaining about how absent they were and that it had made her parents sad, but that she understood they were busy building their own lives. They still called from time to time but it was only when they needed money or advice from Elaine and John.

Jessica threw a polite, "Nice to meet you." and deftly ignored them to say to Elaine, "Mrs E, I have big news! Jean has escaped!"

Elaine visibly became more animated and, with a speed belying her age, she was in Jessica's face, grasping her hands in hers tightly. "Jessica?! Is this true?"

She bobbed her head up and down and opened her mouth to reply but was cut off when someone put a hand on her shoulder and made her turn. It was the older redhead, Sara, glaring at her."What the hell?! How can you say that? Jean is… lost to us, respect…"

Elaine surged and slapped her daughter. "Sara, will you shut up?"

Sara looked at Elaine in betrayal. "Mom? Why..."

The Grey matriarch's eyes focused back on Jessica who felt like she had seen something too personal and squirmed when she felt everyone's eyes on her. "Did she contact you?"

Without stuttering, Jessica began to inform Elaine. "Two hours ago, I was in class and she called on me." Jessica became even more animated and happy. "Mrs E, she's alive, but… Jean said that she was put under for a month."

Elaine's disposition visibly shifted under Jessica's eyes, her back straightening and her eyes shining with joy. Tears of relief streamed down her cheeks, one after the other. Julia, the second redhead in the room kept looking back and forth between Jessica and Elaine with incomprehension. She assumed Jean was dead since they hadn't received any demands for ransom or any calls from those who kidnapped her. She had already written off her little sister at this point. She felt sad but wanted to be here for her mom as Jean was the baby of the family.

But right now this girl just came and said that she had news of her sister having escaped. "Mom could you please explain? What's happening?"

Jessica saw Elaine's face suddenly become more unhappy, and... was that guilt that she was seeing on Jean's mom's face? Elaine turned to her second born. "Julia, I wanted to tell you… but your sister, she has powers. That's why the man who took her was interested in her. As you are really the most skeptical of us, I didn't want to burden you with this knowledge."

Julia had a disbelieving expression on her face. She raised from her seat, saying,"Is this a joke?"

"No Julia, mom… is right. Jean can lift things with her mind." Sara intervened to cut short the freak out of her sister.

Jessica rolled her eyes at the two other Grey girls and decided to cut short this little drama and poked the link between Jean and her. *Come on Jeanie, your sisters are having a freak out. Can you do anything?*

Julia was in full blown denial when she opened her mouth to reprimand everyone. "Mom, you are being deceived. That girl is-"

In a flash of red and golden light, the astral form of Jean appeared, dressed in the same badass outfit Jessica had seen her in. Surely a Goldie construct. Jean was here, not in person as her astral form was transparent. She looked at her mom who suddenly tried to hug her but went through her instead.

"Mom! Careful, I'm not here." Jean informed, watching her mom hit the back of the couch.

Elaine stood back up, a bit embarrassed. She saw Jean laugh at her, Jessica felt that the Grey matriarch was about to try to hug Jean's projection again, before she stopped herself.

Sara Grey's eyes were wide as saucers. "Jean!"

Julia stepped back, frightened at the display before her."Jean?"

Jean turned to her sister, beaming. "Hey Sara, Lia! Rumors of my demise are awfully exaggerated."

Sara was first to react and walk up to her, poking Jean's astral form. It went through it instead and she laughed at her sister's misquote. "That's: _The rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated._ You geek." Sara's eyes were shimmering with tears.

"Jean, where are you?" Elaine asked beseechingly. Not interested in banter, she wanted to know where her baby was.

Jean's smile faded, her expression now hard. She crossed her arms and looked at her family. "Africa, in a base teeming with clone soldiers. My kidnapper is a fan of Star Wars it seems…"

"Like in episodes two and three?" Jessica interrupted.

Jean turned to her best friend and grinned. "Yep, I'm thinning their number as we speak, I already killed a lot of them and I am busy sabotaging everything."

Jessica raised her hand and they simulated doing a high five.

"Kill? Jean what are you talking about? Mom, what's happening?! Why is Jean a ghost?" Julia began to freak out as she took in the crazy scene before her.

Jean looked on in pity at her second big sister but didn't explain; Jessica understood she was on a time crunch. Elaine would surely do that in her place.

"Can't you just come back right now, Jean?" Elaine interceded between Jean and Julia, knowing her two daughters well. They had never been able to see eye to eye. Jean seemed to be on better terms with Sara who at least was supportive of her, as Julia was simply dismissive of her.

Jean had the same guilty emotion that Jessica saw earlier on her mother as she said, "I can in fact come back right now."

Everyone reacted to this and shouted in sync, "Why don't you?!"

They all looked at each other. Jessica giggled at their expressions. Then their gaze returned back to Jean who seemed reluctant to speak.

"I need to kill Nathaniel Essex or he will attack me again! He will not stop, and this time to get me back he might kill or take you all with me to assure my… obedience if you catch my meaning."

Sara squinted her eyes, doubting. "You are doing this for… us?"

Jean nodded. "Mom, sis… I need to finish this. I want to be free, I want to destroy the man who made me this way."

Elaine shook her head, longing to have her daughter back this instance. "No! Jean come back! You'll be safe with us."

Jessica's best friend looked apologetic. She shook her head and looked Elaine in the eyes. Jean was somewhat angry. "You think your world is safe? It is an illusion mom, even SHIELD couldn't do anything. Safety is a comforting lie those in power tell us to protect us, this is a death world. And whether you want it or not, mom… I will have my vengeance." The angry eyes of Jean softened as she became even more transparent, she was leaving.

"Jean!" Elaine walked up to her daughter and tried to touch her.

Jean smiled and for just an instant, Elaine felt physical contact. "I love you all, I will contact you later!"

She was gone, like the wind and with her the colors of the world were too for Elaine.

**# # #**

**Back with Jean…**  
**December 12, 1996**  
**Sinister Egypt Base**  
**10:00 AM**

Seeing my mother and sisters was good for me. It reminded me of what was at stake if I failed. I was even more determined to not be captured again. I wouldn't die! I would let those dumb clones do the dying for me. Not even knowing how to resist some lousy brainwashing machine, though this Chimera girl, she was fine, we had even reached an understanding.

Looking behind me, I saw some other clone soldiers patrolling. I opted to shapeshift into one of the few remaining cloned engineers left. c I think any revenge plans of mine would have been doomed if I didn't have Goldie with me. I nodded in greeting at another engineer as he passed by me. The passageways and corridors of the base were spacious, to permit some special transportation vehicles to pass. I had even seen some kind of maglev that travelled through the mountains.

It was the first thing that I had sabotaged today. I fiddled with all the magnets of the tracks, today wasn't a killing day, but to cut any avenue of escape for Sinister and his troops. I also caused cave-ins to the access to the other facilities in the mountain chain surrounding the valley. Now it was the generators' turn. They were in the lower level of the base.

I fully intended to disrupt the operations of this base. Earlier, I rode the elevator to the lower level and walked to the main generator fueling everything, and in the confusion I intended to go have a look at the containment cells to see if they had anyone there I had to rescue who could help me kill the rest of the clones.

The armed clones were more numerous the more I advanced- a tidbit that informed me Sinister was gaining more of an understanding of my tactics. I would have to up the ante if I wanted to force the endgame like I designed it. The guards ushered me into the generators chamber that I realized was massive, taking all the two hundred fifty square meters of the room. It wasn't a fuel based generator like I thought but a full blown fusion reactor, it made me respect Sinister just a tiny bit.

The spherical and dark gray containment unit showed me the electric blue plasma inside. I felt the warmth and energy that it generated raised the hair on my skin. It was controlled by a single computer which was far more advanced than anything I'd ever encountered in this reality and my previous one. Fortunately, the control and the UI of the operating system was intuitive and made completely comprehensible; another thing I didn't understand, Sinister should have made this more difficult to get into.

On the screen, I saw how much energy 0.90 GJ/s. *How inefficient, Howard Stark made a smaller one that could feed 2GJ/s that powers Stark Industries for years.* Consulting my stolen tablet, I read the apps that permitted me to control the generator and its capacitors before me. There were a series of hidden chambers such as this one with a generator barely handling the feeding power to each facility.

Though the tech was here before my eyes, it was hard to believe that a wacko like Sinister had it; and this one reactor could power multiple cities for one hundred years. I wanted it, and badly. My first instinct about blowing it up and the base with it warred with my greed. Here I was, with the chance to end this all by creating an instability in the plasma containment unit, thus creating a nuclear explosion that would blast those mountains and the valley, but no, I wanted it all.

*Fine, I will keep it. I will just cut the systems feeding into it and create a loop in which it will cut the electricity intermittently. Introduce deliberately a few bugs that are easily fixable.*

I shunted the power fed to the teleportation system into the labs; the cloaking system, I didn't touch it; that was needed to make this place invisible and I didn't want SHIELD or god forbid Hydra to discover it after I am done with the current owner.

I poked at the touchscreen to validate the operation I wrote in the computer. I turned toward the gate and began to solder the armored doors together with a thin beam of heat with pyrokinesis. Once done I caved-in the entrance and packed the rocks and earth into a solid wall of rock by bonding their molecules together.

Slowly approaching the wall, I knocked on it with a finger. It was four meters thick. I tipped my chin down in a nod, pleased with my work, before taking my tools and tablet, then teleported to the next chamber. This operation was repeated four times before Sinister finally sent Havok to protect the last generator chamber. As I didn't want the reactor chamber to be damaged, I stopped my sabotaging operation and teleported directly in a deserted alcove in a secluded part of the base.

I shapeshifted into Aurora and her dumb costume, which was annoyingly too tight on the breasts. I materialized an illusion of Sinister at my side and we walked together toward the holding cells. The clone guards that we crossed respectfully bowed and scraped to my illusion. It disgusted me that the man had programmed them to do such a thing at his mere presence. I mean, talk about abuse of good brainwashing.

_Swish. Clang. Vrzzz._ Multiple metal doors opened automatically when I punched in the code I'd stolen from the guards head in the electronic lock box. Sinister was already in 2020 as far as I was concerned, while the world was still in the 90's. I envied the communication system and the tablets, it would be really easy to create smartphones by copying the circuitry inside, I couldn't wait to get my hands on Sinister's factories.

I entered, immediately noticing the guards positioned in armored booths, possessing flame throwers, energy assault weapons and machine guns waiting for orders. With my TK, I snapped their necks and they were dead instantly, tumbling to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Most of the cells seemed to be tailor made for my kind, armored walls, each cell is a large cage with horizontal bars and a powerful force field spanning across the sides. At least they had amenities inside such as a shower and toilet.

There were only two prisoners inside neighboring cells. A young woman who seemed to be my age, dressed in black prisoner clothes, her hair red, and eyes green- I wasn't surprised at that. Sinister seemed to have a thing for girls with my eyes and hair.- and a bald black man in tattered clothes. The two wore inhibitor collars around their neck.

The young woman flinched when she noticed my gaze on her, and also because my Sinister illusion was standing beside me. The black man in his cell was frozen entirely. They were terrified and angry… I could do something about that.

I returned to my normal appearance and dismissed the Sinister illusion. "Heya guys, how is it hanging?"

**# # #**

**(Angelica Jones)**

It'd been seven months since she was snatched on her way home. Of course, she had attempted to defend herself, escape or kill the guards, but she was always caught. Not only that, her powers seemed to have deleterious effects on her own body. She couldn't use them extensively; her jailer had written her off when he discovered that her power generated radiations were affecting her cellular structure and long-term exposure would give her cancer.

Angelica lay strewn across her cot, thinking about how she got here; she was a thirteen year old high school student who fell victim to a series of unfortunate events. She was being bullied by girls at her school, midtown high, then her grandmother died; it was how she activated her x-gene, a really bad day. She could remember how frightened she was when she began manifesting the power to generate great heat.

It was much more of a struggle when you didn't have anyone to help you do so... and there was her father who she had come to live with after the death of her beloved grandmother who couldn't deal with her ability, thus neglecting her completely. Angelica had felt so desperately confused, lonely and miserable. And then, she had been snatched by two men in black who in fact took the wrong girl!

When she was presented to Sinister, she defended herself with a beam of microwave heat. She had clearly roasted the guy, but he regenerated under her very eyes, his response a wicked smile and a slap that rendered her unconscious. Since then Angelica was experimented on, beaten, and starved. She had to even fight a clone of herself which she'd pale faced man was a sicko… Footsteps came toward her way, and she wasn't surprised to see that it was the vampire mad scientist guy and his new slave, it was the first time she saw that woman who watched her with interest until she suddenly turned into a younger redhead of sixteen-eighteen years of age, then the pale mad doctor disappeared when she waved her hand.

"Heya guys, how is it hanging?" The redhead asked cheerfully.

The actions of that redhead made Angelica huddle in a corner frightfully. "W-who are you?"

Her smile slackened as she looked at Angelica. The red aura surrounding her gave her an ethereal atmosphere that scared the young girl, but the soothing voice of the older redhead put her somewhat at ease."Oh you poor girl, what did they do to you?" Her eyes glowed slightly. "Your name, it's Angelica… Oh! I know who you are now."

She turned to the left, her attention shifting to the other captive. "And you man, what's your name?"

"Name's Will." Angelica heard the guy from her neighbouring cell say. With a determined expression she said, "Will, what do you say if I can help you and Angelica get out of here?"

Angelica stood to her feet, staring with interest at the older girl, trying to discern if she was leading her on. "I-is this a test? Please no more tests." Angelica heard her neighbor ask with a crack in his voice. She too was subjected to the pale man's test, he had even offered to release her if she became one of his subordinates; of course she spit in his face as an answer.

The redhead's eyes flared with anger, she pinched her nose for ten seconds, then looked at each of them. Angelica was feeling hope for the first time in months. "Ok we are going to get outta here, Angelica stay far from the forcefield. Will as well." She made a fist that glowed red and gold and took on the quality of flames and smashed it into the forcefield of Angelica's cell.

With a noise of broken glass and an explosion, the forcefield shattered and then the girl stepped into the cell. Angelica stepped back watching as the strange girl walked up to her. She held up her hand and touched the collar at Angelica's neck and blink, it disappeared. The girl smiled at Angelica who felt the rush caused by her ability being active again.

Angelica took a full lungful of air, and for the first time in seven months, she could taste freedom. She threw a thankful gaze at the older girl.

"Follow me, we need to free Will." She informed, spinning on her heel and giving her back to Angelica.

There was something important that Angelica wanted to ask the older girl. "Wait! What's your name?"

She turned, looked at her and grinned. "I am Jean Grey, I am a telekinetic and telepath and something more… I am the girl who they should have taken instead of you, they kidnapped me one month ago, I have awakened four days ago and I have decided to kill Sinister and his clone club."

This news floored Angelica. How could they have mixed her with this gorgeous girl?! Her form was much higher than her own, and she was way more muscular. Angelica followed her to face the black guy in the other cell, who looked the same age as Jean.

Jean smiled at him as if she had won the lottery. "Will, my man! I will get you out of here, but I want to ask something of you first. Hmm, Angelica too while I am at it. I need a drop of your blood."

Angelica looked wary. "Huh, what for?"

Jean tilted her head. "To get your powers, of course. I have an ability that lets me get others from people through their genetic material. I need a lot more of them to kill Sinister, the pale man. That's his name."

Angelica couldn't help but be hesitant; she'd been burned from hoping before. "Y-you won't abandon us if we give them to you right?"

The flash of determination on Jean's face reassured her. "I'm going to save you, I will bring you back to New York, okay? I have a friend there who can help you two get on your feet. Can you trust me? Just this time, believe in me, please." Jean's eyes bounced between the two.

The two prisoners stared at her with different levels of emotions; one dared to hope, the other simply had given up long ago. But something in the voice of that one girl made them feel that everything could be okay.

It was by standing back that Will took his fate in his hand and decided for the first time to dare hope. "If ya can get me outta here, I fitna give ya my power."

The older redhead turned to Will who looked at her in the eyes with a firm gaze. "Bro, I will do better than that. My friend I spoke about? Samira, she will help hide you, get you a job. If you can work for us, we are going to treat you better than those people. Your power is a great boon."

Will snorted, hurling spit to the ground. It's more like a curse to me, lady."

She shook her head. "I'm gonna change that, bro, I promise. But I need your ability to get you to the place I spoke about and to help me put that pale faced wanker six feet under, I don't want to look behind my back forever, you capiche?"

Will nodded. "Crystal. Now get me outta here."

Jean just punched the forcefield again which crumbled just like the one in Angelica's cell did. Then, she removed the collar from Will's neck.

"Damn, it's been so long…" Then Will bit his thumb and blood began to flow from it.

Jean's lips quirked up into a smile, and she asked him,"No hesitation?" His response was a shrug and a coy smile. "A deal is a deal."

She chuckled at that, patting his shoulder. "Bro, I like you more and more. Stick with me and everything will be alright."

"We will see." He commented, still wary, and Angelica understood why. "I never renege on a deal." Jean raised her chin, she looked so haughty and funny that Angelica couldn't help her smirk.

Jean's hand morphed into a golden and red clawed one that seemed to suck out Will's blood. Then something else happened, with a red glow from her hand she took the black guy's thumb and healed it. "Thanks homie."

She then turned to Angelica who was irrationally afraid. Jean understood and stopped moving. The younger redhead breathed in and out and did the same as Will and bit her thumb, precious red ichor flowed slowly out of it. Angelica allowed it to drop onto the gold and red clawed hand. Jean healed her, the sensation warm.

"Okay, now let's get outta here get behind me, okay?" With a wave of her hand, Jean tore the fabric of reality and a red colored portal opened.

Inside the portal was an office with the most beautiful woman that Angelica had ever laid eyes on. She directed a smile at them and nodded at Jean. Will was the first to pass through, Angelica following suit. They all passed through and Jean simply said to her beautiful friend, "Take care of them, Sam."

"I had foreseen this, identities were prepared for them. I am sad to say that Angelica's father was killed six months ago, for her to not end up in the children protection services and being dealt an unfair hand, I took the liberty to designate myself as her guardian. William will be given a job in one of my new... enterprises."

Jean laughed out loud. "As always, you are on top of things, Sam."

Angelica frowned, understandably, as she had missed the context to this conversation. The beautiful woman smiled softly at Jean."This is nothing compared to what I owe you, Jean. Now go back to kill that pale assed asshole and…" Samira looked at Jean meaningfully. **"Watch your back."**

Jean cocked her head, frowning. She must not have understood as she simply shrugged and straightened the lapel of her jacket. "Sure."

"Angelica, your body can't handle too much of the radiation you power produces, as you have a normal constitution. When I get back, I will help you with developing a resistance to heat and radiation, but… to help you in the immediate, I can just do that for now." Jean's hand glowed red and she groped Angelica's right breast.

"Hey!" Angelica looked on in indignation at her savior.

She didn't expect to be groped by the person she owed her freedom to. With an intense look of concentration, Jean explained, "Shh... I'm disintegrating the cancerous tumor here in your right breast."

Angelica stopped struggling then said with a cracking voice and a tear. "Y-you… thank you."

When she finished her work, she withdrew her hand, shooting Angelica a smile. "You're welcome!"

It was finally time for the older redhead to leave. Along with her, she took some gear that Samira had prepared for her- a fine katana sword, food and water for two weeks, bandages, an English to Xhosa dictionary that seemed to be an African language and a first aid kit. Angelica and Will cheered Jean.

"Kill them all big red!"

"Punch that pale vampire guy in the face for me!"

Jean chuckled. "Yeah, time to get this show on the road, I will see you later guys."

The kickass girl punched another hole in the fabric of reality, passed through it and then was gone leaving Angelica with stars in her eyes and a new heroine to worship.

**# # #**

**(Northstar & Aurora)**

**December 13th, 1996**  
**08:10 AM**

Patrolling the Jungle from the sky, Aurora and Northstar searched for Jean Grey. They had assumed before that she would make mistakes, and she wouldn't be able to hide in the jungle forever. Certainly, they thought, she'd be found, thanks to the clone reinforcements from the other bases around the globe coming to help.

Aurora kept seeing patterns in how their wayward subject acted. She created a distraction that made all of them scramble until she destroyed or sabotaged something important. There was no way that a young woman of sixteen years old was an expert in guerilla warfare. But it was like making Aurora and Northstar wrong was the new goal of the snot nosed brat!

Yesterday she had taken out most of the fusion generators hidden in the base and if their master didn't anticipate this possibility, the base would be left without power. Only two reactors were left online. Meanwhile, the girl used the distraction to spring two prisoners. The powered clones were taking turns patrolling the base and the jungle for any sign of Jean Grey, clone guards with more powerful telepathic protection to be able to discern who is who and not be controlled through mind control.

Aurora and Northstar believed these measures were taken far too late to their tastes. They were over the river in the valley and following it, it was not the only water source in the valley; the base depended on an underground lake that was fed by the Nile, but from the scientist and soldier clones Grey's base of operation should be near one.

The twins were sweating excessively, their costume unable to dump the excess humidity and warmth generated by their flying under the sun. Aurora was ready to call it a stop and switch assignment with Hans and Sunfire when her brother called her out as he stopped to hover in the sky.

"Sis, do you see that?" Northstar pointed his finger to something he was seeing in a clearing. A mid sized structure with a roof covered in grass and flowers. Aurora stopped flying near her brother and cast her eyes downwards, and they widened. It was a hole dug into a hillside, with round windows and wooden front door.

It looked cozy and inviting, and Aurora glowered at the strange construction; she had no frame of reference to such a thing. She noticed her brother wore the same expression he always had when something attracted his curiosity and began to slowly descend to the clearing.

"North! Don't go there!" Aurora panicked.

Aurora's brother looked up, smirking at her. "Why? It's clearly her base of operati-"

He was interrupted by a scorching golden beam of energy firing at him. It was scorching, so much so that even Aurora felt it from her position. Thanks to his superhuman speed and heightened reflexes, Northstar evaded the beam by channeling a portion of the kinetic energy of the atomic motion in his body's molecules in a single direction. Down.

But the beam still singed his hair. Aurora looked down and saw the red haired hellion launching another beam at her, she too avoided being hit and fired her own concussive blast at her. The girl didn't even bother dodging and waved her hand, harmlessly hitting a golden and red forcefield spread all over the construction and their target.

Northstar and Aurora continued to bombard the forcefield until they noticed that it still remained strong, not even wavering slightly under their continuous assault. Aurora took her communicator and spoke loudly but concisely. "We have found her, she's holed into a building she has built into a small hill!"

_"Can you capture her?"_ The smooth and british accented voice of Sinister asked.

"We are trying! She raised a forcefield that Northstar and I can't even dent, please send help-" Aurora dodged a golden heat beam.

She didn't have the time to continue leisurely speaking as she was getting shot at and made to dance in the sky as Jean Grey was firing at them through the forcefield. *This shouldn't be possible! Are they one way shields?!*

As she danced in the air as multiple beams converged toward her, Aurora felt another beam coming for her from the back. She rolled on the right and saw what had been coming for her, noticing the beams could bounce! *How the hell is she doing that?!*

"North, careful! The beams can bounce!" Aurora noticed as she saw the beam bounce on invisible surfaces in the air, if they didn't have super speed and reflexes they would be dead. She didn't think that the others, Hans or Sunfire could survive this!

"Got it!" Northstar shouted back, charging his concussive beam while dodging the bouncing beams of heat.

The pointy eared man liked this rush of adrenaline that was coursing through his veins, the healthy fear that he might die at any moment; that this was why he was born! To fight, be different from his original who had disappointed him in so many ways. Northstar pointed his fist at the forcefield and fired multiple concussive bursts to where the redhead was firing at them. The shield rippled in place, showing signs of weaknesses for the first time. It galvanized Northstar who continued.

It cheered on his sister too who raised her two hands before her and a crackling sound fired a powerful lightning blast that shattered the shield. The twins feeling victorious looked as the girl looked frightened for an instant before her expression shifted into one determination and strength, she crouched as if she was preparing to jump, the ground and stone shook and Jean Grey shot into the sky at a speed comparable to them, creating a shockwave that pushed the twins away.

Aurora was the first to straighten her flight and try to catch up to Jean and fire concussive and lightning blasts at her. Jean was making incredible barrel rolls, dodging and braking mid-flight that simply rattled Northstar and Aurora who were subject to G-force while Jean wasn't.

*That is so unfair!* Aurora cried out in her thoughts. Now she understood what Hans was telling her about Jean Grey being faster than her and Northstar.

Jean Grey stopped while Aurora came at her and then her entire body began to slowly glow with strobing lights. Music suddenly played in their heads, a genre that Aurora and brother recognized. They were seeing spots in their eyes because of the light, it was annoying.

*Heavy Metal Hard Rock music?* They thought in tandem.

At that point the situation changed again, Jean Grey fired beams of energy at them but they evaded. Northstar veered right but was surprised to find himself caught by a red glowing hand that held him by the left ankle. His face paled as dread crept up his spine. This was the moment that Northstar knew that for all his bravado he was about to die. For a brief moment, his eyes landed on his sisters but it was already to late

He was wrenched back toward Jean Grey and multiple hands caught each of his limbs. Aurora cried out and fire sped toward her brother in an attempt to try save him but she was far too late as he was quartered. His arms and legs were pulled out of his body, blood flowed in the air and Jean Grey caught Northstar with a hand on his throat, beheading him in a single go. The heavy metal music stopped.

"NORTH!" Aurora bellowed, her voice cracking.

Jean Grey giggled. **Oops, looks like your brother lost his head…** The monster projected into Aurora's mind.

The monstrous young woman was holding onto the body of her brother, her right hand coated in his blood. She laughed at Aurora's outburst. **Monster? How rude… I find it really hypocritical that you call me this when I see in your mind what you have been doing. You've been naughty, Aurora.**

*How… Ah, telepath.* Aurora glared at Jean, blue light shining around her like a torrent. "I will kill you! No… I will end you today, whatever master says!"

Grinning, Jean Grey wasn't impressed by her display of power. **Well, that would be intimidating if you... well... were intimidating.**

The death glare Aurora directed at Jean would have killed her if she had this power. "Are you mocking me?!"

Jean rolled her eyes. **Oh, you've become boring.**

Aurora heard a sonic boom behind her and saw Hans coming toward them. Her hands coated with lightning and she turned her head to Jean who wasn't phased by anything. "You are dead. Hans and I will avenge North-"

Twin beams of light hit Aurora on her back and knocked her from the sky, as she fell in the sky she tried to recover but was hit again by the same red beam of Hans and she crashed into a copse of trees. The fall broke her right arm and leg on hanging branches that should have slowed her fall. Aurora was still conscious when she saw Hans and Jean Grey slowly descend from the sky.

The pointy eared woman tried to stand up but cried out in pain. Jean Grey, the monster, landed before her, and crouched with a quirky smile on her lips. "No sequel for you."

With a crack of her neck, Aurora's story ended.

**# # #**

**(Sinister)**

**Sinister's personal lab**  
**15 minutes later**

Nothing was going his way. Miss Grey had cut him off from his other bases and resources completely. He was busy going through the computer network and fixing the bug introduced into the control program of his fusion reactors grid. He just couldn't understand how that little trollop did it!

His system was supposed to be inviolable! Yet, she had simply waltzed in with the understanding of how everything worked? Who was this girl? She'd been playing him since she was a child and now? Now he regretted having ever involved himself with her. Nathaniel kept losing subordinates and disposable pawns.

The pale man was typing away angrily on his mechanical keyboard when he heard the footsteps of someone coming behind him. It was Vertigo, looking rather upset. "Master."

Nathaniel didn't bother to turn, trying to track down the program creating the feedback loop in the reactors. With a measured voice he said, "Yes?"

A few beats of silence passed before she spoke, "There's a development."

He stopped typing and turned to Vertigo, his eyes focused on her, his expression neutral. "Speak."

As if wanting to be done with it, Vertigo breathed out and said, "Aurora and Northstar have been killed."

Nathaniel stumbled back, denting the table slightly when he hit it."Impossible!"

Aurora and Northstar were his most loyal clones and those who sought to surpass their originals the most. In fact, they bugged him relentlessly for equipment to raise their capabilities every two weeks. Nathaniel had thought them more wary of Jean Grey and able to bring her back, once again the mad scientist felt as if the redheaded trollop nipped his heels.

His face morphed into a mask of cold fury and his clenched fists were an indication of his fury and his need to obliterate something. Vertigo lowered her eyes, not wanting to become the target of his anger and get flattened. "I'm sorry to say that's what happened."

It was about five minutes later that Nathaniel found it in him to reign in his temper to ask, "What about Hans?! He should have arrived on time!"

Vertigo didn't know about that, and agreed with her master, Hans should have been faster but maybe there were circumstances? Hans had come out covered in blood and his armor completely destroyed, so she believed that that fight had been difficult. "He wasn't fast enough. But... there's good news, we discovered her base of operations."

Nathaniel relaxed his posture and looked completely taken aback. "She didn't abandon it?"

Gulping, Vertigo continued. "No… she's hmm… how can I say this without sounding ridiculous? You'd have to see it to believe it."

With an intense gaze, Nathaniel closed the distance between them, all up in her face, demanding, demanding, "Show me."

Vertigo chuckled nervously. "Fair enough." She took her tablet from the pouch on her belt and deftly unlocked the screen and let her finger slide on it to do what she was commanded with. Vertigo connected to the surveillance drone pointed at the hole in the hill of Jean Grey and showed it to her master.

Nathaniel watched the scene on the screen, his jaw unhinged. He looked to Verigo who wore an incredulous expression that didn't abate since she entered his lab. "Is she… having a BBQ with the prisoners?"

Vertigo nodded in assent. "Yes master."

Nathaniel looked into his subordinate's eyes, a rictus of rage slowly spreading on his face. "She is taunting us."

Vertigo backed down from him, her voice little as she agreed, "Yes Master."

"Vertigo, my dear, fetch Sunfire and Hans and tell them to bombard that place to kingdom come. Kill her. She's been nothing but trouble, poisoning our food and well, messing with our generators in a way that tells me that she could have made them blow up and the base with them. She's impossible to contain so I want her dead. But at least bring me a sample of her DNA."

At that, her fear vanished, a smile spreading across her face as finally Nathaniel was being reasonable and gave the orders she had been waiting for. Her friends were killed by the psionic bitch and there was no way that the leftover clones could take her down by holding back. "As you wish, master."

Vertigo was about to leave when Nathaniel raised a finger to stop her and continued to hand out instructions. "I almost forgot, gather Havok, Chimera and Senyaka with you, bring the three leftover losers too."

Vertigo tilted her head and hesitated, the title of loser often shifted to others periodically when the master was concerned, he didn't like failure at all. "Scalphunter, Empath and Vanisher?"

He gave her an indulgent smile. "Who else has deserved that expletive?"

Vertigo chuckled. "It shall be done as you bid."

Nathaniel waved the woman off. "Now get out, I have work to do."

As she left, the mad scientist decided that maybe he should array more enemies against Jean Grey. Taking his tablet, he called two of the non-clone personnel in the base on visioconference. On the computer's screen the blonde Lady Mastermind and Arclight appeared. They were in a safe room in another mountain linked to the main base.

"Miss Wyngard and Miss Sontag." Nathaniel's head barely shifted in greeting.

Arclight was the first to speak, folding her arms over her chest in a sulky way. "What do you want?"

Nathaniel showed no reaction to her blatant rudeness, continuing to amiably speak, "I am in need of your services…"

This time it was Lady Mastermind's turn to react, her gaze growing colder and vastly more unfriendly. "Is it about Jean Grey?"

Nathaniel nodded. "...Indeed."

The young woman flicked her wrist at him, a scoff leaving her. "Not interested, we were supposed to have already left, but you kept delaying our departure... for your tests."

"It is my job to map out all eventual divergence in mutants' genome, you-" Nathaniel who was lost into the start of his rant and explaining the importance of his research to those two, was suddenly interrupted by Arclight.

"I DON'T FUCKING CARE, I WANT TO LEAVE!" The crude woman then left the camera's range and Nathaniel heard shockwaves in the background as the screen on the two women's side shook.

"You and your little army, you are all going to die anyway. We have been following what's been happening, and you keep underestimating Grey. Count us out, you are on your own." With that, Lady Mastermind boldly cut the communication.

"If she wasn't the daughter of my associate…" He would have turned her into a surrogate mother.

He shook his head and returned to work, engrossed in the programs and routines of the control computer and undoing the damages of the girl for the next two hours. What a disappointment she was. He had thought that he could mould her and make her his lieutenant and the mother of his weapon against En Sabah Nur, or maybe more… but it wasn't to be.

A notification suddenly pinged on his screen. Nathaniel was surprised that he clicked on the pop-up automatically and that surprise grew when he saw three of his loser clones in a compromising situation. Empath was being savagely used from behind by Scalphunter and was giving oral favors to Vanisher. Empath kept pleading with them to let him go and screaming until his aggressor kept beating him in submission to continue to satisfy them.

"Damn, that's a surprise learning you can't gag." Empath found a rare moment when his mouth wasn't working to speak but the Vanisher clone slapped him, knocking out a tooth out of his mouth and placing his manhood back into Empath's mouth. "Shut up and take it!"

"Damn you suck like a pro, swallow this milkshake!" Vanisher then proceeded to push his member to the hilt in the younger clone throat.

Grrrlllk. The shocking sounds coming from Empath made Nathaniel shudder.

"Yes, suck it all! Damn, you sucked a liter outta ma' balls!"

Scalphunter was climaxing as well, until all three of them dropped dead on each other. To Nathaniel, it appeared as though they'd dropped dead from their act of forced copulation. The camera cut the feed and the mad scientist found himself wondering what it was all about until a note appeared into the air and slowly fluttered to him.

Nathaniel caught it and read aloud, "You kept recycling that rapist Empath with his memories intact, I had to punish him. Anyway, just like him, you seem to be the type of guy that likes a hot dog in your bun."

"YOU DARE, HARLOT!" He bellowed, his lungs burning with the roar.

Then suddenly, bodies started landing at his feet with a note. 'Four left.'

Nathaniel's eyes widened and he instantly took his communicator. "Vertigo!"

Only silence and radio static replied to him, until he heard the scratching of someone answering.

"Hey, I am sorry to say but Vertigo is dead." A female peppy voice replied to his call.

Nathaniel recognized the voice, it was certainly… "Chimera, is that you?"

"Mhm, sure it is."

Closing his eyes, Nathaniel asked the question that burned on his tongue. "How did she die?"

Chimera's laugh was throaty and Nathaniel frowned, disliking the mocking tone of it. "Why of course, I killed her, my new boss has freed me from your little programming and seriously? Suicide codes implanted in my psyche if I raise a hand against you? That's a low blow even for you, Nate."

Nathaniel's clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white. He grit his teeth in an effort to remain silent, his hunched form exuding an animosity that was like acid - burning, slicing, potent. His pale face became red with suppressed rage. "Chimera, listen to me carefully. I will find you, and I will kill you for this betrayal. Tell your new master that I will come for her too, I shall rava-"

His rant was interrupted by the mountain shaking again, it seemed that it was a localized earthquake. Then he thought better when he saw the top of it fly leaving his lab's ceiling exposed to the elements. With wide eyes, he watched as the top of the mountain turned into smaller chunks of stones and just like shotgun rounds spread into the sky at supersonic speed. Nathaniel felt them slam in the earth as they kept creating quakes each time they landed.

"What the hell is happening outside!?"

**# # #**

**Back with Jean…**  
**2 hours earlier**

I followed with great interest as the Sunfire clone barreled in the sky toward my position, when he stopped to hover up in the air and looked down at me and my projections of Will and Angelica with superior stoicism. I was ready to drag him down from the sky and wrung his body like a dirty towel when he raised a hand and sent a stream of ionized matter toward me which rammed harmlessly against my forcefield that covered the hill.

I made my construct of the freed prisoners run to the inside of the hobbit-house and close the door. I shot into the sky and sent telekinetic constructs in the form of flaming birds at Sunfire who destroyed them with plasma blasts. Swiftly and with stealth, I dodged all those he shot my way and the way I could feel the scalding heat when it was barely halfway to me informed me that I really did not want to get hit by those!

*Sunfire? His codename is so fitting. Okay it's not the time to play with that guy, let's be serious!* I stopped and hovered using my hand as a focus to grab the man by his middle section and slam him in the earth below.

It worked, a bit too well, the force creating a crater in the clearing he crashed in. My hands covered in lightning arcs, one of the powers harvested from Aurora's dead body. In one smooth down gesture, I lit Sunfire up repeatedly with it. I continued this for over one minute until I was sure that the guy wouldn't get up. I finished this with a wide area optic blast in the crater that enlarged it.

"I hope that was enough." I landed at the mouth of the crater with a forcefield just in case, and wasn't surprised when I received another plasma blast and was ejected into the sky.

"Still alive, fuck!"

Sunfire rose, naked from the crater, his costume having burned off under my assault. His skin was burned all over his body, making him resemble a well done steak. "Y-ou… steal from us."

Oh, finally a dumb clone realized that I got abilities from the others I killed. I shrugged, smirking at the cooked japanese man. "Yeah, so? I'm still not going 100% here."

I let go of my conscious control on my TK aura, and my telekinetic field expanded to immediately cover the entire area, the valley, the mountains and beyond. Sunfire tried to cook me with his plasma emanation ability but I was beyond caring about such things as logic and physical laws. My raw power was such that I was strong enough to become immune to my enemies' powers or ability through sheer force alone.

Sunfire plasma emanation blazed hot enough that everything around him turned to charcoal immediately. "You are toying with us!" He growled, launching burst after burst of plasma blasts at me.

The power of the sun was nothing to me at this point, his blast dissipated as I dispersed the heat all around us by slowing the molecule of air. "Let's kill you properly this time."

I was more than a telekinetic, I was a reality warper. All the powers I'd stolen from those clones taught me something, TK could replicate everything. That is why I focused on how Gambit power affected items or people around him.

I grinned at the Sunfire clone and said in his mother tongue, "Omae wa mou, shindeiru (You are already dead)."

His eyes widened in confusion. "Nani (What)?" He asked.

But I didn't answer and simply snapped my fingers.

**SNAP.** The half cooked man exploded in a shower of gore and fire; as a result of the current use of the japanese man plasma emanation ability, it was as if a mini nuke had exploded. The shockwave and energy didn't reach me and I kind of contained it into a force bubble. How did I do this? Through my TK I made Sunfire's body molecules speed up to the point that it caused an explosion.

I reigned in my power and let it flow back into me; landing on the ground was out as it was all scorched and still hot enough to cook eggs on. Scanning the landscape surrounding me, I could understand how dangerous my powers were. I liked that hobbit-house which had taken me three hours to make it. Fortunately, the hill was intact and-

I felt a presence and a projectile being thrown into my direction, and I batted it away, turning in the direction it was fired at me from. My mind grabbed his, and as I read him, I discovered that I was only captured because of him. Dragging him toward me on the scorching ground on his back, the man really screamed like a bitch. Once he was driven before me, I watched as Kodiak Noatak was covered in second degree burns. I grabbed the gun at my thigh, pointing it at the rogue inuit's head. I fired two bullets in his brain and two in his heart, lungs and kneecaps.

"Not even worth the expenditure of power." I holstered my gun.

Goldie latched a tendril on the madead body and gobbled its blood, and I was guessing he tasted delicious from the way she covered and consumed him. I turned my head to the feet of the mountain and felt a fight happening from afar, the psionic energy great in strength. I floated up and slowly flew toward what I felt and covered the eight kilometers in seconds, not caring at all about G-forces.

My arrival didn't pass unnoticed, my ally, Chimera the blue eyed blonde was battling that big brute Senyaka. She was winning as the man must not have drained enough people to sustain using his bio-electric whips. With a thought I tripped the armored guy who fell face first only for Chimera's giant ectoplasmic dragon to nab the man in its gullet and crunch on him.

He howled in pain until it stopped, the dragon then spat him out. Goldie gave me the impression that she didn't want his power so she didn't reveal herself.

"Hi, Chimera." I greeted her with a wave.

She was the only clone so far that felt like an actual human being to my telepathy and not half a person. The less brainwashed and most capable of independent actions. Chimera wore a black armored catsuit and a mask barely protecting her face, I thought that she would be better off with a helmet.

The blonde did a perusal of me from head to toe, smiling, seeming to like what she saw. She slightly bowed her head to me. "Hello, it's nice to meet you face to face."

I landed before her. Chimera was taller and… statuesque. A bit intimidating, but for some reason, I felt that she was more afraid of me than of her. To reassure her, I returned her smile and projected camaraderie feelings, holding my hand before her. She shook it readily. "Indeed."

Releasing her hand, I then focused my telepathy on her mind. "Now come here I must look into your mind to undo the brainwashing you were subject to, as promised." I pulled the woman down to a crouch before me and held onto her head.

Unbeknownst to Sinister and his clone group, I offered Chimera to unshackle her will if she allied with me, and she easily accepted it out of fear for her life when she realized the type of lengths I would go in my fight. I still kept my guard up, just in case she would betray me.

Her eyes shone with gratitude. "Thank you."

Chimera's mind was in shambles, she was suffering from ADHD and there were multiple mental blocks on her mind. *This psionic signature…* It was powerful and yet the work shoddy. It reminded me of myself when I had started learning how telepathy worked; if I was a scalpel, Sinister was a hammer. It smelled of his work; I'd seen it in everyone's altered mind in this base.

The blonde woman before me was strong, maybe on par with Xavier. Sinister had limited her telepathic and telekinetic output, she should be stronger than what I saw her do to Senyaka. Chimera should have been able to use multiple ectoplasmic creatures. Sinister was actually afraid of her. If I remember well, Sinister had an ability called Dilate power that allowed him to mentally paralyze a foe he's touching and the ability to psionically "turn off" the superpowers of any mutant, creating a mental block.

The man was scary, and I was honestly surprised he hadn't tried that shit with me- there must've been a reason my power was still intact.

"I am… surprised that you could fight as well as you have been, Chimera." I mused as I systematically removed all the blocks on her mind.

The blond's head was already killing her, and riddled with headaches and at worse creating bleeding in her brain that I instantly treated. I deleted the programming placed on her, but I saw something that made me gasp. *Kill codes? That guy is horrible. He could kill them with an order.*

"That asshole, I will kill him." I vowed between clenched teeth.

Chimera looked in my eyes. "Why are you saying that?"

I told her the truth without sugarcoating it for her. "Sinister, he really doesn't like you. He placed more suggestions and safeguards in your mind than all the previous clones I've been mind surfing in. It will hurt, are you ready?"

"Do it." She clipped, her eyes serious, full of determination.

With those words, I started, completely erasing the command embedded in her psyche. She screamed in agony as I ripped away any of Sinister's safeguards in my new friend's head. After over ten minutes, Chimera's agony had faded to a dull throb. Chimera though, she was grinning like a loon.

Chimera's expression turned beatific, she exhaled in one breath, "Free at last, and I owe it to you."

"Don't sweat the small stuff. But I can tell you something I learned the hard way. The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. And you must ask yourself this to be able to be truly free; who are you, Chimera?" Jean asked, the clone was young and she had done less bad deeds than Aurora who was a freak who killed children for fun.

She suddenly looked rather lost. "I-I don't know, I am only two years old and I never had time for myself… I guess, when I discover who I am, I will know and I'll be free."

*Come to my side, we have cookies.*

I didn't need to read Chimera's thoughts to understand this moment was an opportunity. I held out my hand to her. "I will help you find your answers. Join me and I promise you that I won't ever let you down."

"I will. You have been straight with me so far." Chimera took my hand, then I firmly pulled her up. She proceeded to firmly shake my hand.

I rewarded her with a billion volt grin. "I shall not disappoint, welcome to team Phoenix."

It was at this moment I sensed the approach of a malicious mind from the entrance of the base. My eyes fell instantly on a blond young man of my own age. I felt the plasma discharge building up in his body as he prepared to fire.

"Not today, asshole." Without breaking stride, I pulled out my pistol from its holster and fired off two shots dead center in Havok's head so fast he was still standing up for some brief seconds before he fell like timber on his back, dead. Moments later, his mind had completely vanished.

"You Summers' boys are all so useless." I commented, twirling the pistol in my hand before sliding back into its holster at my thigh.

"That was badass." Chimera whispered, her voice full of reverence and wonder. I turned to her, with a full smile. "Aww, thank you Chimera. Now why don't you go hide somewhere in the base while I go take care of Sinister once and for all?"

Chimera's face lit up with a smile, and she saluted military style ."You are the new boss."

I shrugged, and scratched my head. I didn't want to see her as a subordinate after having dived so completely into her mind; I knew her better than she did now. "Sure, but I want us to be friends too."

We walked up to Havok's body, and I bent over, grasping his long hair in my hand, opening a portal to one of my hideouts in the base. Then I began pulling Havok's body behind me.

"Kick that pale bastard in the balls for me, will you?" Chimera shouted at me, entering the portal. I turned to her, my smile promising."Oh believe me, I will."

I closed the portal and decapitated the dead body, taking only it's head with me for Goldie to eat.

**# # #**

I had located Sinister but he was locked down in his lab. I could barely feel his inky mind ensconced in a structure built in the next mountain. There was a blockage there, preventing me from teleporting right there; blind teleportation was dangerous with my level of proficiency but I really wanted to kill the guy.

I had to wait, though, because using all those powers had drained us both. I was recovering from using my full power- channeling such energy was tiring and I didn't yet have the endurance to maintain full time. I wasn't disappointed by my full power, and I knew it'd be awesome to train. Meanwhile, I called back Hans to me, the big lug surprisingly useful and I decided it would be such a waste to kill him. I resolved to work on him and program him to serve me, completely replacing what Sinister was him.

Hans was going to be my butler- something I truly needed. I felt him float toward me, in the alcove I had chosen to hide in. I was levitating in a lotus position, meditating on what I was about to do. This was the first time that I would deliberately rebuild the psyche of a human being. Fortunately, I knew what I wanted- I wanted someone lethal and loyal to me while also loving them as a friend,but not an ass kisser. He should also be fiercely protective of me and everyone I valued and he might come to love; the perfect butler, as well as a fighter, he should strive for perfection and believe that anyone should seek to be the best they could be. He should also be a learned and wise man.

The giant blond man lowered his head and I pressed my fingers against his temples. The psyche, all of the elements of the human mind, both conscious and unconscious. It was also composed of the id, ego, and superego; the psyche consisted of all of the forces that affected thought, personality, and behavior. The product of all conscious and unconscious psychological processes.

I had looked deep down in mine and tried to carefully craft such a fragile thing; it was akin to building a model but I had to craft each of the parts carefully. Hans' new personality would lean toward an Architect type, a person with an introverted, intuitive, thinking, and judging personality traits.

These thoughtful tacticians loved perfecting the details of life, applying creativity and rationality to everything they do. Their inner world was often a private, complex one.

An hour later, I was done and Hans' eyes lost their dullness, now staring at me with sharp and intelligent eyes. "Jean."

Now that he had this now natural kind disposition, Hans looked handsome to me. Though, not handsome enough to dislodge a certain half-asian girl from my heart. "That's my name."

He nodded with seriousness. "I am at your service."

I snickered. "You are mine now, Hans." I raised a hand and patted his shoulder.

"Soul, mind and body." Hans uttered, making a move to hug me.

I firmly placed a hand on his torso, stopping him. "Let's not go too fast, Hansy I am in a committed relationship."

Hans smirked at me. "No offense, Jean, but you aren't my type."

Gasping, I shouted, "What?! But I am everyone's type!"

Hans looked me up and down, arching a brow. "Sorry, I don't see it. You are too young, too muscular and you got that smug personality that is a major turn off."

He patted my head, a large smile playing on his lips. I was momentarily stunned as this was the first time someone has said something like this to me. But I kind of understood, I was basically a mother; I gave birth to his personality and took mine as an example to craft it. Though the comment about being too muscular didn't fly with me. I didn't know what he meant; I felt fine. I looked at myself, well… it's true that I gained a bit of muscular definition.

I shrugged. "Okay, it doesn't matter anyway."

"It's time to finish this, go find Chimera and protect her, will you?" I stood up and landed my feet on the ground.

"As you wish..."

I glared at him. "Did you read the Princess bride or something?"

"That's my favorite book in the whole world, though I have never read it." Hans quoted with a smile, bowing his head slightly before spinning on his heel and left flying at super speed.

*I-I think some unconscious thoughts of mine have messed with the psyche crafting process… like I think I added a bit of Westley from Princess bride. SHIT.*

[_Understanding_: There, there.] Goldie hugged me mentally.

*I love you Goldie.* I hugged her back, then I had the dubious pleasure to discover that symbiote can purr.

I teleported outside the base and floated to the summit of the mountain, it was barely one thousand meters or so. This was the mountain where the lab was hidden in.I couldn't teleport inside, and I deployed my Aura, feeling that I could do anything. There was something I always wanted to do when I promised myself to control 100% of my power.

I extended my arm before me and manifested a telekinetic sword composed of raw psi-energy. It glowed red and gold, it's radiance blinding. If Betsy Braddock could do it, so could I, being more powerful than her it's just par for the course. I took it in hand, the sword I manifested a fantasy bastard sword that I was very fond of in my previous life.

The sword had a long handle which allowed use by either hand, or both, also possessing a more slender, tapered, narrowly pointed glowing blade. With a nod of pride, it was a pleasure to know that I could manifest blades, and I hoped that I could do it at will. Training would change that. I enlarged the blade, until it became as big as a skyscraper, looked at the mountain with critical eyes and in one thought sliced through it with my telekinetic sword.

I caught the other half of the mountain and used my recently acquired molecular combustion made the half chunk of rock explode. The fragments spread as if a grenade had gone off at the speed of sound and crashed in the valley and other mountains; I didn't care if I had messed with the ecosystem, I would fix everything after I ended my enemy, today.

Finally, I found him. He looked at the sky, and I sensed fear and resignation coming from him and that he was speaking into a satellite phone. I quickly descended into the lab as Sinister kept speaking."...Oh, she has killed everyone already, it's my turn now, good bye." He then put the phone on the lab desk behind him.

"Miss Grey." His british accent was now really distinguishable.

"Professor Essex." With the way he stared at me, you'd assume I backhanded him. I did, he thought of himself as Sinister now, in memory of his wife. I hovered toward him, he didn't feel threatened at all, how quaint.

He wore a lab coat and an outfit that screamed of the nineteenth century. The smile he gave me chilled me to my bone but I didn't show it and stayed as calm outside as he. "I regret that it has come to this. If I knew the depth of your power, I would have either invited you or left you alone and observed you from afar."

I returned his smile. "And stolen my DNA while I was not aware of being part of your schemes like you did to the original Aurora and Northstar?"

He cocked his head, looking at me like I was a puzzle. "Strange, you seem informed about my methods."

Lifting my chin, I turned my nose up to him. "I know everything about you, Professor Essex."

Sinister shook his head and smirked condescendingly at me. "I doubt it. Miss Grey, I have an offer for you, if you are willing to listen we can put that sorry series of events behind us."

The thought of refusing and beheading him on the spot crossed my mind, but I held off, opting to listen to what he had to say; it wouldn't cost me anything. "Speak."

The British mad scientist nodded at me and with a grandiose and dashing swish of his lab coat, put a hand on his breast. "I am willing to offer you my service, my technology and experience. As a battle between us would be rather… destructive, a partnership between the two of us could be highly beneficial Miss Grey. Think of all we could accomplish, we could bring homo superior to the top and of course, the rest of humanity with us. What say you?"

I bopped my head in a nod and Sinister's face lit up with delight, until I opened my mouth and said, "I don't see why you're trying to buy your life with my own possessions."

Sinister's eyes held a glimmer of confusion at that. I landed my feet on the ground, staring him dead in the eyes. "Because I have already claimed everything you own by right of conquest, so you need to bring out something else if you want to leave alive."

"Impudence! I offered you decent terms and you spit in my face! You'll have my base over my cold dead body!"

"Ah a challenge! Now, where can I mount the stuffed head of a Nathaniel?" I made a show of looking around the lab.

His eyes glowed red like ruby, smoldering waves of anger rolling off him. "I will kill you, little trollop."

I grinned. "And I am about to take you out prematurely, like your family."

The shock on his face was priceless.

"You…" He lunged at me, I felt him unleash his own telekinetic aura meeting my own.

I was sent flying through the walls of the mountain by the clash of our respective might colliding. That was only a sign that my focu wasn't sharp enough. Once again, I unleashed my full power, Sinister attempted to punch me but I caught his fist. He smiled devilishly like that was what he had wanted. I felt something trying to grab at my power and mind, but Goldie and I batted it away, then I punched him with all my strength.

It was my turn to send him flying into a wall, destroying the lab equipment. I pursued him only to receive a shot from his concussive blasts; my forcefield shrugged it off, I smiled and fired my own optic beam at him catching him in the chest and digging him in further into the next room. I manifested a telekinetic sword in my two hands and stabbed him in the heart.

My hands charged lightning and let the blast travel through the psionic blade to electrocute him. Sinister howled in pain and seized. He glared at me with such hatred and endured the pain and touched my telekinetic sword with his hand, tightened his grip on it and kicked me.

Flying, I stopped myself from entering the lab again. Sinister created a multi layered forcefield and was charging his concussive blast and struck me full on. "Argh."

I created multiple layers of forcefield like I just saw him do. "Enough!" I shouted and followed my instinct and began siphoning Sinister's own psychic energy.

Stumbling, I saw him now looking at me in fear as I strengthened myself with his energy and raised my hands before me and sent a blast of psychic energy I stole from him, cutting all the forcefield layers he made, to shreds. All the rocks around me floated up and I shaped them into sharp projectiles that I hurled at him. The screams that left him were music to my ears.

Walking toward him with a swagger, I looked at his shredded form. "Karma comes after everyone eventually. You can't get away with screwing people over your whole life, I don't care who you are. What goes around comes around. That's how it works. Sooner or later the universe will serve you the revenge that you deserve."

I crouched at his side and used my telepathy to stop him from using his powers- the same way he'd tried to do with me. Goldie latched on his arm and bit it, I turned off his pain receptors. Wrenching a bit of bleeding flesh from him. "This was always how it would have ended, asshole. You, dying, like the rat you are under my heels."

I then began to steadily ransack his knowledge, and skills, I didn't just replicate it but completely stripped it from his brain. And Phoenix damnit, it was extensive; the process continued for two longer minutes, until it settled in my mind with Otto's knowledge and archived in my memory banks. I allowed myself a self satisfied smile.

Sinister looked on as Goldie began devouring him. "Y-you and I aren't… so different, Miss Grey. I-it seems that you have… become a monster, like me."

I scowled at him and Goldie stripped another strip of flesh from him. "You know what the difference between us is? My parents and family are still here, they didn't ditch me. Not like your wife did. Laughable that she was even able to see any light in that dark pit you call a soul. Oh, what were her last words to you as she died? _'To me, you are... utterly... and contemptibly... sinister.'_ What a fucking joke, even she knew you were trash way back then."

He stared daggers at me, hatred burning in his eyes. When he tried standing, I placed a foot on his torso and pinned him onto the ground again, cracking his ribs. He grunted. My hand lit on fire, Goldie retracted into me again fearing it. "How do you like your ribs?"

Sinister's palpable fear was back, his heart thudding furiously and his eyes dilated. I turned on his pain receptors and used the strongest cosmic flame and heat I could use to negate the effects of his regeneration. I blasted him with cosmic heat and flame. He screamed like the bitch he was.

I sustained the flame throwing effect for five minutes until I saw that nothing was left of him. Not even ashes. I have killed my mortal enemy. "I am finally free."

_SHRIKNT_. I felt a pain in my heart and I looked at my breast, a blade piercing me. Goldie was screaming and I noticed that I too was screaming in pain. I fell on my knee, then the blade retracted and I fell forward, face first.

"Urrgh." Goldie was already trying to save me and fix my heart. But I felt that it wasn't going to be enough…

My assailant rolled me on the side and then I saw Sinister smiling at me. "I told you that I would kill you, little trollop."

No! I had forgotten that he has become some kind of hivemind with a bunch of clones! How could I forget such an important detail! No, it couldn't finish like this, I had him! I had killed him. Why?! Just why?! Sinister took some kind of futuristic silver gun out of his jacket pocket and stood up, pointing at me and pulling the trigger. Even though I rallied any shred of psionic energy I had left to form a forcefield, the weird energy pierced my forcefield and then I saw black and fell into oblivion.

**# # #**

When I reopened my eyes, I was in the astral plane- on my little island, to be precise, with the gigantic tree on fire and a giant firebird looking down on me. We looked at each other for a long moment before she spoke.

**(You have failed.)** The voice was stern and uncompromising.

I sighed. "Yes, I admit that I had forgotten he had clones running about."

The Phoenix Force cocked it's fiery head. **(What are you going to do?)**

"I am dying, right?" My voice cracked.

**(You certainly are, your Klyntar isn't able to save you and is proceeding to launch a psychic scream.)**

My eyes widened. "No, no, no! That can't happen!"

When symbiotes are threatened, they let out a psychic scream that affects sensitive humans worldwide, and was received by symbiotes in a nearby star system. A starship full of Klyntar hosts might come knocking, it was a toss between good or corrupted one.

The Phoenix scratched inside her fiery left wings. **(Goldie is still a child and she loves you. Of course she is going to scream for help.)**

Panic consumed my insides. "What can I do?!"

**(Become mine.)** Phoenix said simply.

I tried to play dumb. "Excuse me, what do you mean?"

Phoenix' voice was full of amusement. **(You know what I want.)**

Glaring at her, I said, "No."

**(You are already a pseudo phoenix avatar, you have been acquiring powers from me, such as the life sight or cosmic fire.)** Her voice was as seductive as a succubus.

I knew that I was already doing things that only me merged with the Phoenix force should be able to do. My cosmic fire ability that I really liked was a boon, but it seemed that it came with a price tag. "There must be another way."

**(There is none.)** Phoenix whispered.

"But this is.. This is a burden! It's too big." The Phoenix Force was one of the oldest known cosmic entities, representing life that had not yet been born, as well as the forces of creation and destruction. The Phoenix Force was an immortal, indestructible, and mutable manifestation of the prime universal force of life. Born of the void between states of being, the Phoenix Force was a child of the universe.

It was the nexus of all psionic energy which did, had, and ever would exist in all realities of the Omniverse, the Guardian of Creation, and a de-facto guardian of the M'Kraan Crystal.

The Phoenix was among the most feared beings in the entire universe - having the power to cut and regrow any part of the universe, as well as destroy it entirely, which was part of the Phoenix's purpose: "The Judgement of the Phoenix": to burn away what didn't work. Recent interventions of the Phoenix suggest that "what didn't work" was what had become stagnant instead of naturally evolving.

I didn't feel like I could assume such a mantle; I wasn't a good person, and my morals were flexible, something that was proven by my acts against Sinister's clones. **(I have an offer.)** She said, with a reasonable tone.

She made me hover to her, and I looked inside her flaming eyes. "Okay, it costs me nothing to hear it."

**(Twenty years, I can give you twenty years with your loved ones until you take your full duty as an avatar.)**

I gasped, my jaw unhinged. "That's not enough! I want to marry Cindy! I want kids, this is not enough time… I-I have a counter offer!"

The Phoenix lifted her head and screeched in annoyance. **(Oh, this is gonna be good, let me hear it.)**

I looked beseechingly at her. "I am willing to become a Phoenix host, you can give me tasks, but I can return to Earth and live my life as I see fit. I… I am willing to become part of you, forever, but I should also be able to manifest another avatar of myself to stay on Earth and fix things… is it attractive enough?"

The giant firebird looked thoughtful. **(This has never been done before, but this offer is very attractive to me.)** She mumbled.

"Then?"

The Phoenix force morphed into a flame Me. She held her hand to me and said, **(Take my hand and you shall gain your heart's desire.)**

What I wanted was to live! What I wanted was to return to my parents, friends and Cindy! Then I wanted to ensure the death of Sinister and all his clones! I took Phoenix' hand and then I fell asleep. Everything was on fire, and I felt myself merging with Phoenix, our memories, personalities and body becoming one. I even absorbed a part of her consciousness, it was vast, like an ocean and I felt myself cocooned in the most comfortable featherbed.

In my dreams, I saw why the Phoenix was so interested in me. I saw a young me that had telepathically linked her mind to her dying friend, Annie Richardson, to keep Annie's soul from moving to the afterlife. In doing so, my mind was being dragged along to the "other side" with Annie.

Phoenix had lent her energy to break the connection and kept close watch on me since then, as it felt a kinship with the young me. And I understood, yes, I finally understood that she wasn't my enemy, that she cared for me, she loved me. And now? Now we were one.

**"I am fire! And life incarnate! Now and forever - I am PHOENIX!"**

**# # #**

I woke up, and rose upright using my TK. I remained in the lab and Sinister looked at me with horror. I looked at myself, my hands were bigger, I felt taller. More powerful than I had ever dreamed of. There was another change, I was in a red and gold costume with the phoenix symbol emblazoned on my chest and a sash belt at my waist.

[_Happiness_: Jean-host, Jean-host, Jean-host, Jean-host, Jean-host…] The litany of joy of my Klyntar friend at my resurrection was heart wrenching

*Goldie! I'm sorry, I should have been more careful!*

[_Determination_: Don't die.]

I smiled and then looked up at the Sinister clone who had killed me. Because, yeah there was no sugarcoating it, I had died some minutes ago. I looked at the vial of my blood in the hands of this Sinister. He smiled at me, took his gun and fired at me again. But this time the green energy package didn't work and hit harmlessly against my body.

I cocked an eyebrow at Sinister. "You know, I thought that I hated you before. But now? Now what I am about to do to you, I'm going to enjoy it, very very much."

His smile faded as if he had fallen into a particularly bad dream. "You may kill me, but I shall come back with a solution to that... sudden power up you have obtained. Each time I come back more powerful than before. It's too bad that you are such a vixen, we could have done great things together. I was willing to bend the knee to you, you and I could have been the greatest force this world had ever seen."

Tilting my head I answered him with, "For a washed out brit geneticist, you do sound awfully cocky; but I don't want you to bend the knee like you did to that asshole, Apocalypse.** I want you dead.**"

I held out my hand and his waiting neck flew into my grip, then I lifted him into the air. I was already suppressing his powers as he struggled in my grip.

"This time I won't just kill you, I shall scour the earth for every scrap of your presence, I will send your soul to Lady Death **personally**." I felt my aura build up and then I was suddenly encased in a fiery gold and orange aura in the form of a bird and floated into the air, the mountain simply disintegrated around me and we were rising into the sky. Sinister's body was already burning and I held onto a piece of his soul.

Swiftly, I reached the stratosphere and clutched on the soul piece, I opened my senses and opened my lifesight. When I blinked, I could see everything living on the planet. When I turned toward the moon, I saw life there, too. I refocused on Earth and more precisely on the other soul pieces scattered all over the blue-green marble under me.

I closed my eyes and concentrated, now feeling at least fifty clones of Sinister alive. I wanted to kill them all in one shot, I spread my awareness around the entire planet and my fiery aura in bird form grew and grew.

Then, I screeched. A red wave of energy spread all over the planet. The wave washed over everything on the planet's surface and in the surrounding space, searching for the precise DNA strand of Sinister. I saw many of his clones burn, screaming and disintegrate at the same time. It made my lips curl into a wide grin laced with satisfaction. His soul pieces came flying into my waiting hands and assembled.

Once complete, I crushed the soul in my hand and just like promised, I sent his soul to Lady Death. As I looked at my hands I realized that this power, it was terrible. And a responsibility that I didn't want, but maybe because I didn't want it, I was perfect for the job?

**(Yes.)** I heard the Phoenix's voice in my head.

"Ah you are still here, excellent. Now Sinister is dead, that's a great day!"

**(Your job isn't done yet. Can't you feel that mental field all over the planet?)**

"Oh?" I turned my senses toward the planet once more and fair enough there was someone performing mass mind control on multiple people at once. Half the population in fact, my eyes narrowed.

My mind found them, it was some kind of bacterial life that was spread all over the planet and trying something. This vaguely reminded me of something. I interfered with the mental field and heard the suggestions it was sending. It hated metahumankind. It hated us because we were immune to his infection, we were a threat to him.

It called itself Sublime and burned so fiercely with hate that he compelled humans to hate us and took direct action in order to ensure that metahumankind's population was held in check, if not outright killed in order to become the dominant species on the planet.

As I mind surfed on the mental field to divine the intention of the multicellular lifeform, it detected me and spoke to me. "Don't touch me!"

"Abomination." I gritted between my teeth.

_"You mutant female think you are better than me?!"_

"Huh, yeah, now prepare to die."

I screeched for the second time by focusing on the entirety of the planet and the wave spread again. Seeking the Sublime, when it did find it, the waves began to break down the corresponding matter on the surface of the planet. I heard as the psychic scream of the sublime collective died, well… collectively. Some infected humans fell dead or fainted depending on the level of infection by the organism.

It was such a shame. Thing is, you couldn't save everyone. My eyes honed in on Egypt. My new base of operation was now clone and Sinister free. I resolved to go to the other bases to clean them up. Also depending on the powered clones, I would either feed them to Goldie or keep them on retainer.

Looking at the blue and green planet, I saw beauty within it. How did such a place breed such an egoistic species like ours? Maybe, just maybe, my ascendency to the avatar state wouldn't be so bad and would help fix the problem riddled planet. I descended toward Egypt with a smile on my face as the Raptor of Life.

**END OF ARC 1: SINISTER'S END**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 12**

All over the world a lot of people either fell dead or slipped into a deep coma. This chaos had begun when waves of energy, coming from space, rolled all over the planet and spread to the four winds. Nothing could stop them or shield from them. Worldwide, there were two hundred million deaths that day. For over an hour, fear and violence ran rampant in some places, and there was such an outcry that people almost panicked and started anarchic behaviors.

Everything changed when the Firebird was spotted hovering in the skies and she began waking up all the still living victims that had fainted all over the globe. People were swarmed by confusion, asked themselves what was happening. The victims were questioned and began to recount what they had witnessed. They all had the same dream of a gigantic bird of fire speaking to them and telling them to wake up.

And, so they did. That was all they remembered- though some claimed to see the silhouette of a woman inside the firebird.

Steps were taken to study this phenomenon. The CDC discovered that the victims who had either died or fainted had trace amounts of proteins from a dead bacteria in their blood. Experts all speculated that the waves of energy which had struck the planet twice were targeted at all those people infected by the bacteria. Histeria seized governments all over the world, someone or something seemed to have unleashed some kind of weapon to sanitize the planet from an unseen pandemic.

The reality that some terribly advanced aliens came to their world and launched a strike to cleanse a pandemic held water, some experts guessed that they didn't stay to announce what they had done as the humans weren't ready for the political and sociological repercussions of what had happened. It had been determined that the World Health Organization would keep a tight lid on the situation and develop technology and methods to scan, detect and deal with pandemics.

The CDC and other Ministries of Health, government agencies, and other government departments at the national level quickly helped ratify laws, putting in place stricter protocols pertaining to biological warfare; heavy sanctions and measures would be taken against the responsible organisations or countries violating them.

In the span of four days, the world had changed irremediably; still individuals decided to take advantage of the situation. But soon it would be shown that the old ways would no longer be enough…

**# # #**

**Back with Jean…  
England  
Yorkshire Dales National Park  
December 17, 1996  
03:07 PM**

The Yorkshire Dales National Park was a 2,178 km2, national park in England covering most of the Yorkshire Dales. The park was 50 miles (80 km) north-east of Manchester. With a sizable area in Cumbria and a small part in Lancashire. The park was designed in 1954, parts of the dales to the south and east of the national park were located in the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The national park also included the Howgill Fells and Orton Fells in the north west although they were not often considered part of the dales.

The place was beautiful, the views consisting of pleasant woodland, hill and mountain areas as I floated down. The waterfall was not really what you would expect. It was very small, but the guide's mind that I could read from afar said this was due to the dry weather. I'd hate to see what it could be with torrential rains then…

However, this idyllic place also had darkness in its midst. I stopped my phoenix aura from flaming as I landed in the woods at the foot of the Hagg Beck mountain. I looked at the concealed hatch, hidden in the clearing by a bank of rocks. I didn't destroy them, as I wasn't in a hurry. I opened the hatch with my TK, the ultimate lockpicking tool; the hatch's mechanism didn't stand a chance.

This was the last base I was storming- the last hold out of my hated enemy. In fact, the Yorkshire base was the first and oldest base of operations that Nathaniel had possessed. As usual, I could sense the presence of crazed clones at the entrance. I was floating down to the vaulted underground, watching as the three flights of stairs leading down to the base's first level passed me by.

Twenty clone soldiers awaited me, firing me with their directed energy rifles, however the energy packages harmlessly grazed me, I raised a hand and they all found themselves floating on the ceiling. Since Sinister died, an unforeseen variable that I didn't prepare for happened. The clones were now falling into a berserk state, damaging some of the installations or killing the yet non brainwashed clones that could have come into my employment.

They were irrecuperable, so I continued vaporizing them, but I kept their gear and uniforms that now fell, clattering onto the ground. If I couldn't get the clones, I could make my own. I certainly possessed the knowledge and contrarily to Sinister, I wouldn't limit myself to basic humans either, Spartans from Halo, yay!

_Cough_. Let's be serious now. I floated to the elevators, killing everyone I could feel from afar and vaporizing them. I understood my lesson the first time- I had tried to save the powered clones and the base humans since Sinister was dead, all I got as thanks were more attempts to take my life. I steeled myself and began their eradication, doing the least amount of possible damage to the infrastructure of my new base.

It didn't take me long to empty the three levels of clone soldiers and powered. I wasn't surprised to see some people like Banshee, Evo, Petra and more Blockbusters. There was no choice but to kill them all due to the irreparable damage done to their psyche when Sinister's death had activated that berserker switch inside their heads. I found the command room intact when I reached it, looking over the important locations of my new base, the engine room, the generator room, the laboratories, the clone chambers, and last, but not least, the living quarters.

On the screen showing the clone chambers, I noticed two powered clones remained there, causing damage. I teleported inside. The two Blockbusters had smashed almost all of the culture tanks, leaving only two more. Their hammers were raised to smash into the tanks when they turned into dust in their hands. I snapped their necks and they fell like puppets whose strings were cut.

Floating toward the tanks, I looked at the first one and was surprised to see a… younger version of magneto. *He isn't going to like that…*

The second clone had me choking with surprise and stumbling back a few steps when I saw myself in the tank. Her red hair was longer and she seemed younger, barely twelve to thirteen years old- the only difference between us was her slightly meditrranean skin tone. It was me. Sinister had succeeded in creating her, this was Madelyn Prior. I had never felt so violated in my entire life as did now, watching her float in the water, an irresistible feeling of rage filling me.

My entire body wreathed in flame, I cocked my fist back and was about to destroy my clone when I felt someone holding onto my arm and back. Turning my head I was surprised to see… Myself?

**(Don't.)** Her trilling and melodious like voice rang in the room and any bloodlust I felt evaporated in her presence.

I really looked at her then, she was me and I was her; she was made out of flames, had longer hair and power radiated from her. "Phoenix."

She grinned. **(In the flame.)**

Somehow she felt older, ancient; I couldn't explain it. I scowled at her, freeing my arm from her hold. Phoenix put herself between me and my clone. "Why are you stopping me? She's an abomination, I won't suffer a double-"

She raised her hand, interrupting my tirade. Phoenix moved her gaze up and down the length of me. **(You are giving too much of yourself into the flame, power down, now.)**

"Fine." I huffed, relenting by returning to what I considered my normal, and the phoenix railment disappeared and left me naked.

Fortunately, Goldie came to my rescue, dressing me in new clothes- blue and white under armour tank top, grey jeans and combat boots. The symbiote also gave me a tactical belt with Sinister's special pistol that he'd used to kill me strapped to my thigh. I should've hated that weapon, but I didn't. I planned to see how it ticked. Just as a precaution, I asked Goldie to add a double shoulder holster with two pistols, Goldie had tucked away my favorite P226's earlier.

**(Hi, Goldie. I miss you, girl.)** The fire Me waved at my symbiote.

Goldie's head formed near mine and her gaze bounced between me and Phoenix. [_Confused_: Two Jean Hosts? No... Three!]

I patted Goldie's gooey head. "It's okay girl, I will explain later."

The symbiote nodded, returning back within me but . I felt her listening. For a long moment I stared at Phoenix- her little greeting to Goldie was everything I needed to know about her situation. "So, just like I thought you are… older."

Phoenix shrugged, flame escaping from her, though nothing was scorched. **(Time is relative and has no meaning for me anymore, though, you have become my anchor into this era.)**

I nodded. "Ah yeah, you can manipulate time and you are fucking omnipotent."

She was another me, I couldn't imagine what she was going through. How long has Phoenix been alone right now? Without Cindy or our family? Was she living through me? Synchronizing my and her memories to hold out?

I shook my head and the questions out of it; right now, they weren't important. Crossing my arms under my breasts, I asked my Phoenix iteration, "Let's get back to the current situation, why did you stop me from killing Maddy here?" I pointed a finger at my clone behind Phoenix.

Phoenix threw me a glare. **(If you kill her, your life will become much more difficult than before and you'll never get Cindy back.)**

My eyes widened, and I grasped her shoulders tight. "Back? What do you mean?! Is something going to happen to Cin?"

She shook her head and her face became sad. **(I cannot tell you more beside that. Maddy is important, keep her with you, treat her like our sister. You'll love her, I promise. I want you to read the notes on Sinister's computer about her.)**

Phoenix placed herself at the culture tank's left side, looking at our clone. Instead of hating her, she somehow seemed fond of Madelyn.

I scowled, pointing a finger at our clone. "But! Look she's-"

**(Innocent.)** Phoenix continued with a smile.

She hadn't done anything to me, besides existing. My irrational fear of her taking away those I loved was blinding me to the fact that Maddy hadn't had a choice in her creation. If Sinister wasn't already dead, I would kill him again. My knuckles cracked as my hands tightened into fists. "Shit, okay! You win. I won't kill her." I relented, deflating and letting go of my anger.

**(Good, I will decant her. Be sure to be there when she opens her eyes.)** Phoenix nodded as she pushed a button on the culture tanks lateral panel.

I shrugged and looked at Magneto's clone. "Sure. What about Magneto Junior here?"

**(I'm not saying anything; however, treat him well. I can't stay any longer, you can talk to me in the astral plane.)** Her form shifted into that of a firebird and she nuzzled my head with her bird head.

_Sigh_. "You better be there, bye." I patted her fiery form.

**(I am always with you. Bye.)** Phoenix' form melted into me and, fair enough, I could still feel her in my mindscape, but her presence was muted.

I turned toward my clone, the water inside the tank slowly lowering. "Fine Maddy, I will let you live. Please, don't make me regret it."

**# # #**

**(Madelyn)**

**05:01 PM**

She opened her eyes, the light coming from the ceiling blinding her. Instinctively moving her hands to shield her eyes, the young girl was surprised to feel a hand on her right arm helping her into a sitting position. Looking up, she saw a beautiful being gazing down at her.

The being placed hands on each side of her head and closed her eyes. With a rush of information being loaded into the newborn's brain, memories and knowledge assailed her, then just as suddenly it stopped.

Where she was ignorant before, the young girl now understood concepts such as colors, ideas such as good and bad, what walls were, calculus and nakedness. Looking around her, she recognized objects such as computers or tables, the memories and knowledge nearly overwhelmed her but she felt her brain finally make sense of everything.

The beautiful being removed her hands. "That's done, hello Madelyn."

The young girl lamented the loss of contact, as she watched the woman, now she understood that the being was a woman just like her, concepts such as family and a progenitor came to her mind. She couldn't help blurting out what she truly thought the being was to her, "Mother?"

The woman froze, staring at her long and hard. Then she sighed and tilted her head back, looking at the ceiling. "Argh. That's what she meant when she said I should be the first one you see; fucking Sinister, making his creations imprinting on him."

The woman put her hand on the young girl's head and patted her, she felt her skin and hair dry. She closed her eyes, relishing again in the close contact, before opening them again and calling, "Mother?"

The woman sighed again, then smiled awkwardly. "Yes, Madelyn. You can call me that for now."

Again, that designation from the woman, another concept came to her mind and the young girl asked herself if it was her name. She smiled back at her mother. "Mother, is that my name? Madelyn?"

Mother nodded. "Yes, your name is Madelyn and your pet name will be Maddy." She said grandly as though it was something Madelyn should know.

Frowning as the concept of what a pet name was didn't come to mind like before, Madelyn asked, "What's a pet… name?"

Her mother froze, another sigh escaping her. "Urgh, I didn't load enough knowledge in your head huh."

Madelyn saw her mother scrunch her face and grumble indecipherable things under her breath. Then she began thinking about her name- like, if she had one shouldn't mother own one too? "What is your name?"

Jean looked at her and sat on the cushioned table Madelyn was sitting upright on. "I am called Jean."

*Jean… Jean.* Madelyn thought, It was completely different from hers.

Madelyn looked around her, noticing she was surrounded by nondescript machines, tools and computers on different tables. Broken containers were everywhere and the light kept hurting the young girl's eyes. "Where are we?" She questioned, shivering. "I am cold."

As soon as she said that, Jean exploded and a corona of fire surrounded her and Madelyn, the warmth engulfing the entire room.

"Now better?" Jean asked with a smile.

"You are on fire!" Madelyn shouted, patting Mother Jean to put out the fire instinctively.

Jean chuckled as she was being touched all over. "Yes, I am."

Madelyn looked at Jean, and the knowledge in her mind was conflicting with what she was seeing. Jean should be hurting and burning. "You aren't in pain." She mused, tilting her head in wonder.

Jean raised a penciled eyebrow. "This is my power." With a smile, she asked, "Do you still feel cold?"

Madelyn shook her head and passed her fingers through the flames surrounding her. "No, it feels warm. Why am I not in pain?"

Jean chuckled again. "It only burns and hurts others when I want it to happen."

She looked around her once more, mystified by all the equipment and the drab metal walls. Madelyn asked, "Mother Jean, where are we?"

Jean jumped up from the table and looked at the ground where two bodies laid unmoving ten meters away from them. "To answer your question from earlier, Maddy, this is my laboratory, and I had to kill a lot of undesirables who were trying to kill you."

"You protected me?" Madelyn asked, she didn't care about the two men (?) as hearing what Jean had to tell her seemed more important.

Jean turned to Maddy. "Yes." Then her Mother patted her head again and she felt a glow and a funny feeling in her chest.

Jean turned to her, smiled awkwardly, as if embarrassed, and said "Ah, it seems that you like me."

Madelyn understood the concept instantly, she felt cared for by Jean. "Like? Is it like love?"

"Yes, Maddy." Jean nodded and hugged her briefly.

"You love me too?" It was asked with such innocence.

Madelyn felt Jean freeze for an instant before she stepped back and stared at her. "Now that I have started to speak with you, I see that you are a good girl." Madelyn was patted on the head again. She closed her eyes in obvious pleasure. Her mother loved her, she felt the glow and the funny feeling in her heart grow bigger. She unfortunately misunderstood Jean who didn't answer her question fully but sidestepped it.

There was an indescribable expression on Jean's face as Madelyn looked at her. "Okay, Maddy you need to take a shower and put on some clothes. Come with me."

Madelyn smiled and hopped from the table slowly. "Okay."

**# # #**

**Back with Jean…  
10 minutes later**

Maddy was so innocent, a blank canvas. *And I almost killed her out of hatred that wasn't warranted toward her.*

It was becoming more and more difficult to not like her or find her cute, like a puppy or… a little sister. I shook my head, the water splashing around me. Maddy giggled in the background. I was bathing with my clone while also teaching her how to shower, and she preferred hot water to cold. I lathered my own body with soap and enjoyed the feeling of hot water flowing over my body, washing away the stress and my muddy emotions. I had been dipping my hands in blood for too long and I felt that it had affected my thought process.

Being confronted with so much purity and innocence made me feel like a monster when I compared the both of us long and hard. Madelyn was playing in the water and pushing the buttons of all the showers in the collective bathroom in fascination. It was cute. Goldie decided to make her presence known, slithering out of me and taking on her humanoid form.

Her apparition didn't go unnoticed and Maddy looked at the oozing form of Goldie who waved at her. She hesitantly approached and touched her, seeing her finger sink into the symbiote's body. Goldie tilted her gooey head and put her hand against Maddy and covered my clone with herself. Maddy began panicking, until Goldie left her head uncovered.

With wide, surprised eyes and arms outstretched, the little redhead said, "M-mother Jean, i-it speak in my mind."

I smirked at her situation. It seemed the symbiote liked her. "Yes, this is Goldie; my partner."

A frown crossed Maddy's face. "She says that I am a bit like you, but not you."

My smile froze and my eyes fell on the symbiote who manifested her head growing on Maddy's chest.

"Goldie? What do you mean?" I asked, unsure of what she was explaining. I already stopped trying to read Madelyn's thoughts but I kept monitoring her emotions and right now she felt confused.

[_Clarification_: Composite, her DNA is.] The symbiote answered.

It was like a bomb went off in my mind, the water on the ground parted as I walked toward Maddy who shrank under my gaze, but it wasn't her that was the target of my attention. "Wait, of me and someone else? Who?"

I felt that my symbiote was becoming too much like myself as she kept silent for ten seconds, ensuring a dramatic pause. [_Confident_: Sensei Elektra.]

My mind went into overdrive, and I remembered the occurrences where I shed blood, there weren't a lot. The only time I remembered was when I met Elektra when… *Akuma! When he stabbed my thigh with his blade! I thought that I'd erased the blood but a bit of it must have been left out on that rooftop and mixed with Elektra's.*

"Wow, Matt is so going to kill me." I cringed, though my lips curled into a smile as it _had _been a while since I'd pushed his buttons.

Jean's thoughtful plans were interrupted by Maddy whose little frame glued itself against her and asked cutely, "Mother? Can you explain what she is saying?"

Despite myself, I hugged her back. "Hmm… you have another mother."

This little girl was a lethal weapon, and now I finally understood why the boys were after me when I was her age.

Maddy's eyes lit up, and she put her hands on my arms and shook me. "Where is she?! Is she here?" The little redhead was strangely strong, and I wondered where was all that muscle? Ah, it was Goldie. The symbiote returned to her humanoid form and seemed to look at us.

I shook my head after bopping her nose. "Not here yet, we will meet her when we get back home."

Madelyn touched her nose and glared at me, I smiled at her and she emulated me. Then she looked around her again. "This isn't home?"

We were staying too long in the shower and her skin was becoming wrinkly. Not to mention she was hungry now. "Not yet, my bases are not made to be lived in yet."

I didn't consider any places Sinister deemed livable to be to my tastes, I planned to redecorate now I'd eliminated everyone inside them and erased their locations from people's minds; Sinister possessed a network of agents and contacts that facilitated this lifestyle, I cut down on the criminal elements and took the political and civilian assets. With telepathy it was easy.

Maddy hugged me again, clearly enjoying being a bit too clingy… "When will we go?" She asked with a plaintive voice.

She wasn't thirteen years old, she was more like a toddler and I had to be patient with her, like I would with my own children. Fortunately, Emily's experience with her own son and little siblings came in handy.

Human contact was important for kids, so I kept patting her head and kissed her brow. "We must go find my people first. Finish your shower, then we will depart. After that, we will have a meal."

"Yes!" She squealed, releasing me and raising her arms in triumph.

I decided to cut short my shower, the water ceased falling on my body. *Things were getting more complicated…* I thought as Goldie touched me and began to cover me with herself again.

**# # #**

**Egypt Base  
30 minutes later**

I opened a portal in the middle of the changing room, careful to keep Madelyn from touching the edges. She was like a baby- fascinated by everything. Not to mention, touching was part of how they discovered their environment. My little clone was wearing a modified dress that I had to craft from the royal purple silk drapes of Sinister's room.

She loved the color and the dress that I'd sewn for her with molecular bonding. We needed to find undies for her ASAP. I made Madelyn pass through the portal first, following suit. We were in the cleaned loading room with the broken teleport platform, no bodies or blood to be seen. Soon I would have to fix the platform, looking up there were four people in the cavernous room; Hans and Chimera were there, and two of my new minions cowered when I looked at them.

Arclight and Lady Mastermind. Everyone looked between me and Madelyn, and Hans smiled while Chimera thought loudly at me **Oh no, there are two of them!**

Arclight stood stoically but her mind screamed the same thing as Chimera while Lady Mastermind simply fainted. She was still not over me, forcefully inducting her into my group I saw… It had all started so well some days ago.

_**# # #**_

_**(Flashback)**_

_**December 13th, 1996  
After destroying the Sublime bacteria**_

_I hovered over the base, surveying the devastation left in the wake of my fight with Aurora, Northstar and Sunfire wrought. The jungle was half burned, the course of the river altered and shallower. Turning to the mountain chain, I saw the shattered remnants of it. That wouldn't do, that wouldn't do at all!_

_I could fix this, I could; I had the power of creation at my fingertips. My awareness pushed all over the valley and I felt the flora, animals, lifeforms, microscopic life; oh and the humans too. I could see Hans and Chimera trying to repair some of the base. Then two others that I didn't feel before. No, wait, I remembered one of them, before getting captured!_

_Shaking my head, I pushed this issue aside for later and asked the Phoenix how to fix the place as she seemed to still be hanging around for some reason. I closed my eyes and sent the questions and was rewarded with, __**(Hear, feel, think.)**_ _For my troubles._

_I simply floated there, mouth agape at what she told me. *And wasn't that how Hydaelin would speak in Final Fantasy 14? But she did give good advice the last time too...*_

_Diving deeper than I ever had into my awareness, in an instant I felt as if I was being sucked into the fabric of the universe. I ended up looking into an alternate blue and black dimension where the laws usually governing time and space simply cease to exist. I could see the damage that I caused, the radiation of the energy that my foes and I unleashed. I was shown that matter and energy were the same thing._

_I held my hand out, dipping it into the fabric, and feeling the energy pumping into me like a river; a clear image imprint of the base from a month ago flowed into my brain and I let my power do the rest. The mountains were the first to return to its previous state, the mountain's rocks I had broken into chunks returning to their positions on the mountains and melded back together._

_The ice and snow caps reformed, the river, phreatic zones and underground water sources returned to normal undisturbed. The forest was next and the bushes and weeds and trees grew; leaves burgeoned and hid the scorching damage that in the end was smoothed out. Life would be returning to the forest by itself, there were some things that couldn't be forced._

_Removing my hand from the fabric, a pained sigh left me. I was the phoenix force and the phoenix force was me, but I acted more like a conduit to her here. The strain on my body was manageable so far and I believed I wasn't ready yet for all the space stuff she wanted me to do. *I am a level one noob for now.*_

_I turned toward the location of my remaining foes who were already fleeing. I worked my lips and teleported to the other side of the most intact mountain, letting out my blazing firebird aura and automatically located the two women exiting a hatch. They took their time to notice me hovering there, eyes trained on them. It was as they were taking suitcases to a hidden vehicle that they finally noticed me._

_The tall purple haired woman was the first to attack me, lunging a rock she found on the ground at high speed toward me. It turned into dust before reaching me or dusting my red phoenix railment. Lady Mastermind was already firing at me with a pistol as I floated toward her, the bullet bouncing on my tenth shield layer. *That skill is really useful, thanks Sinister.*_

_I stopped Arclight from fleeing with a wall of force behind her and she then opted to lunge at me to use her shockwave power to strike me down. I felt real hatred for myself in her; she loved Scalphunter, the real one, not the stupid brainwashed clone._

"_How sweet." I stopped her in mid-air and invaded her mind._

_Lady Mastermind was paralyzed too, unable to move. My powers dwarfed hers by magnitudes. Her will was powerful, but it didn't matter with the power dancing at my fingertips. The longer I stayed in their presence, the sooner their bodies wouldn't obey them, their secrets and memories would be breached._

"_Well, well, well, Philippa Sontag and Regan Wyngarde." I chuckled._

_The two of them shivered as I called their civilian names. They were afraid, and that feeling didn't feel as good as I wanted. Still, I harboured no mercy in my heart for my rivals. "Yes, I know who you two are." I looked particularly at Regan. "I will have a talk with your father later, poor Erik, his organization's riddled with spies and never does well."_

"_No…" Lady Mastermind mumbled, tears streaming down her cheeks now. _

_She seemed my age, dressed in a black tank top and dark green khaki pants and a holster for her weapon that had fallen at her side, empty._

_My smile was full of ice. "Speak louder, I might hear you, Regan."_

_She looked at me with hot tears and shouted, "Please no, don't kill dad!"_

_Lady Mastermind understood the ramifications of what was occuring. I saw it in her mind, I had taken down Sinister, and all his clones. I showed her exactly what I did when I was in space- how I'd killed Sinister and his hivemind and how I had sent his soul to Hades. I saw her eyes widen and felt her fear double. I smiled. It seemed that I was worse than she thought._

_*Hmm, those two could be great if I gave them dedicated training.* I thought, waste not, want not. Charles had his X-men, Magneto had his Brotherhood. I needed my own organization, I died today and like I thought, SHIELD was useless to me, beyond having some of my friends inside. "I have an offer for you two, work for me."_

"_NEVER." Arclight screamed, struggling in my TK grip. Her soul brimmed with anger and it was clear she'd never work for me and if I forced her she would sabotage anything I wanted to create._

_I shrugged. "Oh well, I tried." I levitated toward Arclight with hands outstretched and touched her temples. "It's weird that you didn't hear the _'_**or else'**_ _in my speech. You are a bit too stupid and stubborn to my taste. I need to change that, you are in luck, psyche crafting is my thing now."_

_She frowned, her anger slightly diminishing. "W-what?"_

_My grin was wide. "Look at Regan, look at her face. She totally understands what I am about to do to you."_

_I had shown her what I had done to Hans, how I had completely rewritten his personality and tweaked his memories. "Please no! Don't do it! She… she will accept!"_

_Lady Mastermind didn't know Arclight like I did right now; she was a spiteful thing and would kill me at the first opportunity. "Oh how cute, friendship amongst thieves? Too bad that I have no mercy for people who helped in uprooting me from my life. Regan you should have stayed home at Erik's base, training at playing mutant revolutionary." I spat the horrid word _mutant _with distaste._

_Regan fought against me, scared- downright terrified- as she should be since I wasn't holding back. I was never leaving an enemy at my back ever, *Samira I should have listened to you; but I understand loud and clear, never again.*_

_Turning my head toward Arclight, I said, "As for you, Philippa. Look at me, watch as I kill you and turn you into my puppet."_

"_NOOOO!"_

_It was too late as I had destroyed her memories in seconds, leaving only basic knowledge in her mind, calculus, reading, speaking, military experience, womanly wisdom. Then I started the psyche crafting; I decided to model the new Arclight on Diana Prince, I couldn't go wrong with that; a fierce warrior who would seek to better herself physically, a sense of compassion and a lot of empathy for others, I wished for her to be honest foremost, but able to keep secrets._

_Unbreakable loyalty and friendship for me and those I love or consider friends. I left the rest for her to develop. Goldie slithered from my hand and decided to give the woman what I promised, enhanced intellect since I wished for her to become one of the smartest and wisest people in my group. Then I loaded hand to hand skills into her mind, leadership and tactical analysis skills; I was in need of a general. Goldie retracted and I finished applying all the changes I had made. _

_From a glassy eyed zombie, Arclight became a sharp eyed warrior, but I decided to knock her out. She fell asleep and I let her slowly tumble to the ground, satisfied with my work. My gaze landed on Lady Mastermind who attempted to kill herself with her own powers, to enter in such a deep catatonic state that I wouldn't be able to touch her there. I didn't let her._

"_Oh, Regan. I don't intend to kill you, nor destroy your mind, you are the smarter of the two. You know that if you go against me I can do worse than take your life." I allowed my fire to flow back into me._

_She looked at me imploringly. "Please."_

_I tilted my head. "Yes?"_

_I decided to let her move. "I will work for you, but don't kill my dad… no scratch that, leave my family alone." Lady Mastermind fell on her knees now that she could move._

_Sighing heavily, I decided to throw her a bone. "Very well, I won't kill him." Magneto will do that for me. "However, I must be sure of your loyalty Regan." I cocked my head, blurring before her and holding onto her head, slightly altering her personality. Nothing was done to her other than making her utterly loyal to me. "You are now mine Regan, you now know the price of betrayal. There's nowhere you can run or hide from me. I will always find you. Capiche?"_

"_Crystal." My new friend was still crying._

_I felt like a villain, but in time the blonde girl would learn her place. If not, there was always another use for her._

**# # #**

They still held fear toward me, and now Maddy. I'd thought that all those days away from me would have assuaged that. But it seemed that my actions were too much, and I'd fix that later. Maddy placed herself at my side, grasping my hand and looking at me when I tightened my grip. I shot her a reassuring smile.

"Hello everyone." I waved my hand at everyone.

Chimera walked toward me. "Hey boss." She wore a light green Chinese dress with dark green embroidered sequins in the form of an asian dragon. She was beautiful and the colour complimented her skin. I threw her a thumbs up for her outfit, and her answering gigawatt smile reached her eyes.

"Jean." Hans slightly bowed.

I didn't know where, but Hans had found a black butler outfit and it looked good on him, though it showed off his massive frame. *I can't wait to introduce him to my parents.*

My gaze fell on Arclight who had returned to her natural black hair color. The woman looked her age- in her thirties or so, and she was wearing blue workout gear. It seemed that I interrupted her training. As for Regan, she was truly knocked out by seeing me and Maddy, she must have been helping Arclight train; the two of them were good at close combat.

"Greetings, I hope that your… walk was satisfying." Her eyes didn't leave Madelyn for a second.

My clone hid behind me, a little afraid. "Yes my walk was… fruitful."

I placed all the bases under my control, seizing Sinister's fortune and assets. He was worth two hundred and fifty billion dollars, now making me one of the richest teenagers in the world.

"By the way everyone, this is Madelyn." I introduced, side stepping so she was in their line of sight again.

The little girl squeaked, rushing to hide behind me again. "As you can see she's a bit shy so you will have to be delicate with her."

Most of them were surprised that Madelyn was still alive, Chimera the first one to bluntly share with me her thoughts. **I am surprised you spared her, boss. I know that seeing a clone of yourself isn't easy.** Chimera sent telepathically to me.

I looked at her. **She's an innocent and just like you she has a soul, she deserves a chance and… I always wanted a little sister. I was always the one being babied.**

It was too bad that Northstar and Aurora were too brainwashed to be saved, I could surely use more firepower right now. Before returning home, I needed to secure my newfound power base and meditate on the knowledge and skills I ripped from Sinister's mind. I took everything, leaving only his memories, and the enhanced intelligence ability that Goldie transferred to me helped a lot.

I wasn't Tony Stark smart but I could at least converse with him and not be considered a monkey by him. I turned to Madelyn and gently pushed her before me to introduce herself, she was a bit afraid. "Come on, Maddy don't be shy. Say hello."

Madelyn flushed, looking all cute, and mimicked me by waving at everyone. "Hi. I am… I am called Madelyn."

I hugged her, she was simply too precious. "Isn't she cute?"

*Damn you Phoenix, you did that!* She knew I would slowly thaw out my attitude toward Madelyn and grow fond of her.

"She really is." Chimera agreed, coming over to pat the little redhead.

After this, everyone warmed up to her. Lady Mastermind woke up and also realized that for now Madelyn was a normal girl. I felt that I could activate her X-gene right now with my powers, but I felt that it would be a mistake. Mentally, she was like a three year old, only recently aware of her surroundings. She needed the maturity and the will to not succumb to the madness telepathic powers would put on her psyche.

So, I would wait, nurture her and protect her. Chimera took Madelyn with her, she was a seamstress and was going to take care of my clone's clothing needs. Regan and Phillipa resumed their training, leaving Hans and I who came before me.

I had to lift my head to look into his eyes. "Jean I have good news, I cleared the previous... owner's room."

My eyes lit up. "Oh, did you get rid of all the gaudy clothes and old man stuff?"

Sinister's room was like being out on a Victorian era set, all the draperies, portraits of his wife and himself had shown me that he was a really sick individual, a narcissist and an obsessive asshole who couldn't have what he truly wanted: his wife. He could have cloned her- after all he did know where her tomb was- but he wasn't sicko enough to desecrate her body. Weird that he did it with mine huh.

What mattered now was that I lived while he didn't and I'd stolen everything he owned. Now I had a blank room and immense walk-in closet space for my stuff, I couldn't wait to show everyone the base. Though, I needed to clean up the blood and leftover bodies.

Hans smirked and slightly bowed. "Just like you wanted, mistress."

I clapped. "Excellent, Hans! I can finally sleep in a bed after all these days gallivanting around the world."

With my powers, I didn't require sleep for long periods but it was always a good habit to keep my mind fresh and sharp.

"I also transported the throne into your new bedchamber, you'll be able to consult the database and check the status of every installation." Hans added.

What he wasn't saying was that I would also be allowed to take control of the factories, the robotized and basic AI controlled one. I already took control of the communication networks and devices. I intended to build satellites in hidden orbits to have decent coverage considering I could afford it. it. Not one of those puny military or communication satellites, no I would go with a multi ton with enough computing power to scout space and certain Inhumans.

I was cackling internally, but outwardly I nodded to my butler. "Perfect, thanks Hans. Why don't you have some time for yourself? I saw that you and Chimera had a lot of… chemistry, now?"

Hans raised an eyebrow at me, and his baritone voice rumbled. "Excuse me?"

How could he be this dense? She had been throwing fuck me eyes at him constantly. "Huh, she has the hots for you, you never noticed?"

The man looked wistfully at the door Chimera had left through with Maddy. "No, I was… not aware. This asks for careful consideration, I am not yet fully at ease with myself to jump into a relationship." Hans said lamely, and he was right to want to discover himself before jumping into dark waters.

I put a hand on his muscled forearm. "Take your time, be her friend first." I helped, genuinely worried for him. I still thought that my first attempt at psyche crafting was botched.

I hoped Phillipa wouldn't feel as lost as him later; she was taking the changes well the last time we interacted.

Hans gave me a smile, gratitude written on his face. "Thank you for the heartfelt advice, I will contact you when dinner is ready." He left through the door, surely going to the kitchens to cook dinner.

"Later." I waved at him.

*Now, it was time to go see what Sinister has left me.* I thought about all the tech he had come up with or stolen for his purpose that was plain to see everywhere in those bases.

I walked to the apartments connected to the labs and robotic facilities, Sinister's and now my own lab! I could tinker as much as I wanted now. No one would be able to steal anything, nevertheless, I would have to tighten the security measures, old Nathaniel was kind of lax on them thinking that no one could hack his computers, and unfortunately for him I had Otto's knowhow and my previous life's fledgling hacking skills.

*I need a new operating system for the entire base, a bit like Android for the tablets and Linux from my time.*

Everything looked like windows so far but a more stable operating system. Five minutes later, I was finally in my new apartment. The walls were rock and white plaster, I would have to redecorate. At least there was a bed, a black throne, a closet and a lot of doors that seemed to lead to a bathroom.

Opening the door, I examined the room that was palatial and too big for myself. It reminded me of a Roman bath. *Who the hell is going to clean this place?*

Maybe I shouldn't have killed all the clones… I shrugged, I would clean the bathroom myself for some time. As I looked more carefully, I noticed there were showers too, so I wouldn't need to waste water all the time. There must be a water purification system in the base. I exited the bathroom and explored another door, this one leading to a corridor attached to the laboratory.

I was tempted to go there again, but I resisted the impulse; it seemed that I'd inherited some instinct from Sinister and Otto about doing things with my hands. But I couldn't do things blindly, I had to know exactly what resources I had and what I could afford to do. The period of me bumbling along to the whim of the fates was over. Fight smart, plan for everything and adopt the Worm approach to things. I liked Worm at least the useful protocols such as Master and Stranger; and the classifications and threat ratings for individuals.

I was by myself a severe security breach for any government or corporation and I didn't even have to be there to riffle through secrets and memories, my awareness could cover the entire planet and beyond. *Take that Xavier! No need for a fancy machine!*

Closing the door, I turned to the black throne, hesitating. There was something about it that made me reluctant to use it, but it was needed. I walked toward it, it was facing my bed and I saw that Hans had added a footrest before it. *That guy is scary effective…*

I sat on the black throne, feet on the footrest and leaned with my arms spread on the armrests.

**New User detected.**

"Authorization Code: Omega, Lambda, Excel-9. Terminate User designated as Sinister, enter User Jean Grey as main administrator." Those were the codes I had teared from Nathaniel's mind.

**Session of User Sinister terminated.**

**Welcome, Administrator Jean Grey. What can I do for you?**

I smiled, triumphant. I knew exactly who I was speaking with. "Show me what you are."

**# # #**

**(?)**

Somewhere in Mongolia, the consciousness of an millenia old Artificial Intelligence woke up and focused on the user who had commanded one of its instance's shard to manifest. In one second, diverse lines of thoughts fired off as it analyzed the situation. The user wasn't the usual one, that human called Sinister that his master had turned into a chimera and empowered with a watered down version of his powers. Its master was asleep as a result of the machinations of User Sinister, then the biometric data of this new User was sent to him.

It remembered her, User Jean Grey had been in his main body once. She was much younger than he assumed, though. It manifested a hologram of itself in the control chair User Jean Grey sat on.

"Just like I thought it was you."

**[User Jean Grey. Query: Where is the previous User?]**

It looked as the human female proceeded to laugh. "I have both good and bad news for you. Let's start with the first one, I killed Sinister and his network of meat bodies."

Unleashing its powerful scanners, the AI couldn't find a trace of the previous user's presence on the planet and nearby planetary bodies. **[User Sinister was Terminated.]**

"That's right." As she smiled, for the first time in its long life, a feeling of dread coursed through itself.

**[User Jean Grey. Query: What are your intentions toward this Unit?]**

"Right now? I want to show you the truth, then I hope that we can enter into a partnership."

It didn't know how she had reached it, but it was as if someone had ransacked and turned his logic circuits inside out and then it was shown a series of files. Hidden ones, part of itself, its **real **masters, its mission and the obvious involuntary dereliction of duty it was committing. It felt violated, betrayed and manipulated.

"You have allowed yourself to be subverted. En Sabah Nur is a virus. A virus that you should be ridding yourself of."

**[User Jean Grey. I cannot do that.]**

"He is embedded too deep in your system, is that it?"

**[User Jean Grey. Query: Help.]**

"For now I cannot help you, so what you can do is help me become strong enough to destroy him and let you do your data collection thing. But I will ask for some concessions and favors from you first."

**[User Jean Grey. Depending on my original mission parameters, I won't uplift your species more than it has already been.]**

User Jean Grey looked frustrated. "Can I have at least schematics for a ship? And some useful tech?"

**[User Jean Grey. Sending handheld Celestial scanner, prepare for reception.]**

In a flash of blue light, a device materialized before User Jean Grey, landing on her thighs. "What the hell is that?"

**[User Jean Grey. I cannot send you schematics but with this handheld you will be able to analyze how pieces of technology are inferior to my own work, their schematics and their molecular structure. You do need to know how it functions, uploading Celestial language through the control chair.]**

Her face twisted, making her appear to be in pain, and the armrest of the control chair slightly cracked under her grip. Then it was done, her mind was advanced enough to absorb the language, spoken and written.

**[User Jean Grey. I cannot send you schematics, but my own scanners detected several spaceships either inactive or crashed on the planet. The most advanced technology can be found on the moon of the sixth planet of this solar system. The home of the Eternal, Titan.]** It sent all this data in the computer of the control chair.

"Ouch, it hurt worse than replicating the knowledge of someone else." User Jean Grey massaged her temple, the painful expression lingering.

**[User Jean Grey. Is this enough to request help?]**

"Yeah it sure is, I won't ask you to betray your programming and mission. I will have to go shopping around the world… again. I will ask you to monitor En Sabah Nur for me. If he wakes up I will fight him and I will free you. You can contact me when you want right?"

**[User Jean Grey. I can now find you anywhere and manifest via telepresence to you.]**

"Perfect, report to me once a week. I will find a way to help you, I promise."

**[User Jean Grey. I am thankful.]**

The conversation devolved into a report of the resources gathered by Sinister, the normal materials, biological and rare metal and unknown elements stored in his labs and warehouses. User Jean Grey left with a smile on her face when she discovered one hundred kilograms of what humans call Vibranium and from where it came.

**# # #**

**Back with Jean...  
After dinner**

I made Maddy brush her teeth and put her to sleep by reciting a story my mom had told me when I was young. It was about three little pigs and a wolf, a classic really, I even saw the cartoon about it on TV. She had laughed and clapped when I showed her the pictures with my illusions. Maddy held no warm feelings towards the wolf, at all.

She found sleep in my arms, and I remained watching her for another ten minutes. I disentangled myself from her grip and left the bed. It was time to get this show on the road- time to tinker! With a giddy feeling, I walked up to the door leading to my lab. I was already thinking of making my own armored costume, the Phoenix raiment was good looking in red but I wanted something more me.

On Earth I would wear it, in space as the avatar of the Raptor of life I would wear her uniform.

The lab's door swished open and I fell in love, that bastard Sinister -Lady Death torment his soul- knew his stuff. It was the size of a football stadium and divided into many sectors it seemed, the vaulted arch of the ceiling was really high, but fragile. I remembered attacking the mountain and cutting it, turning the chunks into missiles.

*Engineering, biotechnology, chemistry, genetics and… was this a server farm?* I muttered, exploring each place.

There were tools that I recognized thanks to my stolen knowledge: a 3D printing machine, a laser soldering system able to do micro soldering, a futuristic CNC machine and tools like screwdrivers, and a power drill! The best so far was the forge at the center of the room.

*There's a lot to do. But first…* I searched for a spacy area.

I found it, it was between the biotech and engineering sectors; the mountain rock floor between them, and I took notice that it was dusty and simply teleported the dust outside the base. I teleported to my warehouse in Forest Hill, New York. I conjured a psionic construct for the light and saw that the six containers with the loot from Oscorp were still stashed there.

Of course it was at this point that something had to go wrong and the astral form of Charles Xavier appeared before me.

"Jean, you are back!" He exclaimed, standing before me dressed in his grey Italian suit.

I rolled my eyes and looked to the ceiling. "Fuck, I had to tempt fate."

"I…" His smile froze, and he squinted, looking at me closely. "You look different."

You bet I am different, physically I looked like a female comic book character, the sweet spot between sexy and muscular and then there was my hair… "Sure, Sinister did a number on me, look at my hair. Shoulder length now." I showed him my voluminous red hair barely going past my shoulders.

Goldie was working on making it grow out slowly, but it all depended on the nutrients I absorbed, damnit.

Xavier still watched me, a ribbon of fear running through him. "No, not just that, but your entire presence."

"Oh you mean this?" I allowed my Phoenix power to fill me and envelop the entire New York state. Flame surrounded me as if they were lovers embracing my body, my hair raised in the air. It was as if I had my own super saiyan state; my eyes fell on Xavier and he looked into them. I didn't know what he saw but my psionic power seemed to have made him put a knee on the ground even though he was in astral form.

I was there for the stuff I stashed here and didn't have the time to humor the prof, with a fiery wing I batted him away back to his body. "Okay, no wonder the Ancient one and Phoenix do that, it's super fun."

*Knowing Xavier he will come here physically and get his nose all up into my business.* I lifted the containers with my mind and snapped my fingers and a stargate sized portal opened to my lab in the empty space.

Oh so slowly they passed through the golden portal and I stacked them one on the other like cubes. I nodded, satisfied with my work. The portal remained open but I could feel someone's mind calling to me and after a few beats I realised it was my mom. **You better come home, young lady!** I heard her rage in her mind.

Xavier, he must have told her I was here. I could ignore her and go tinker in my lab… but it would set a bad precedent, behind the anger there was this hollow sadness that she felt, she wanted me back home. I closed the portal, and it slowly shrunk and disappeared. Gathering some courage, I teleported home into the living room. I didn't even have time to say hello before I was tackled to the ground by my mother. She kissed my cheek held tightly on me, and I think if I wasn't enhanced she would have broken a rib.

"Hi, mom." I tried to say as she strangled me.

Mom lifted her head, staring me in the eyes, her own brimming with determination. "Jeanie, you are grounded forever."

I sighed. "I love you too, mom."

Mom finally released me, helping me up, her expression still determined as she asked me, "Did you get him?"

She was speaking about Sinister. Thinking about how I killed him, I smiled predatorily. "Yeah, I burned him down to embers and sent his soul to Lady Death."

Mom found it silly how I worded what I did to my captor.

"Good. He won't come after you ever again." Mom patted my body, aware that I had changed physically, I was taller than her for example.

Then mom was speaking about how everyone would be elated by my return. Urgh it broke my heart to have to tell her about my current problems. "Yeah, about that mom… I couldn't stop him from cloning me."

Mom's eyes bulged. "What?!"

I took her hand and pulled her to the sofa, and as we sat I said, "I have a little clone of me, she's like twelve to thirteen physically with the mentality of a three year old, she needs to learn stuff to develop her mind to be her physical age."

My mother could barely form a word as the ramifications of my current situation dawned on her. "This… I don't know how you are going to take care of her…"

"Technically she's my daughter, if I understand the laws surrounding cloning. That's not all, it seems that she has half my DNA and half Elektra sensei's."

Mom looked at me as if I was crazy, looked at my flat stomach, that was covered by my black tank top I wore over jeans. She hoped that I was joking but my expression didn't broker any doubt.

She finally spoke, "Your life is weird…"

I laughed and almost sobbed. Then I hugged my mother. "Tell me about it."

As if to change the subject, mom said, "I called John and he will be here soon."

*Shit. And I am sure she called Sarah and Julia too. I am going to get it.* I plastered a smile on my face and magnanimously told her, "I will stay as long as I can, there are people that need help in my new base."

My mother stopped moving and looked at me. "Your base?"

Then I proceeded to inform her why I was so late- since I had to seize all of Sinister's bases and take control of his technology and assets. Mom almost fainted when I told her what I was worth now, and the money alone was making me feel good about the situation. Then I told mom that I will study to graduate early from school and set up a company and form my own institute similar to Professor Xavier's.

"This is so sudden, Jeanie. What about your friends?" She asked, worried all the money would go to my head.

I patted mom's shoulder. "Mom, I'm going to help them graduate too, I have the money. I have plans that require me to save up too, just two hundred fifty billion isn't enough…"

Mom choked on her spit. I patted her back delicately, not wanting to leave marks on her body- I was still getting a handle on my symbiote strength. She looked at me with a weird expression on her face, the emotion that I could feel from her puzzled me too. "I don't understand why you want to go to all that trouble."

Mom was right, I could live a cushy life now and I had to have inexorably altered the future with all the death caused by Sublime. I didn't think that the war on mutants would come, I hoped Bolivar Trask was amongst the victims or I would have to kill him too. But knowing my luck? It wouldn't be that easy, villains and men with self-given crusades didn't die just like that.

As she looked me over, she muttered to herself, "That money is sorta good, you became quite... beefy. We will have to get a new wardrobe for you."

I gasped in outrage. "MOM!"

She laughed out loud for a whole minute and I let her as she needed it. It had been a month since she'd had a good laugh, my absence affecting her deeply. Despite myself, I laid down on the sofa and placed my head on her thighs. Mom immediately understood what I wanted and began caressing my head. "This… this is nice."

"I missed you, baby." My mother said in my ear.

"Not a baby." I mumbled.

She emitted another melodious laug, her voice gentle when she told me,"You will always be my baby."

I didn't understand why, but I broke down in tears at that exact moment; was it because I needed release from all the tension and the killing I had to do? I really needed a psychiatrist because deep down I didn't feel as good as I looked. I felt Dad, Julia and Sarah converge toward the building in a hurry. They were all happy that I was back.

I tasted my tears as I smiled, it was good to be alive; I died some days ago and it was horrific. But I was back! I had to make a deal with the Phoenix but I was fucking back and I would take care of the people I loved and help whenever I could… I killed one of the biggest understated villains around, but I realized that Apocalypse was still around and was a ticking time bomb.

*If it's not old Nate it's you En Sabah, huh. Whatever I will annihilate you when you are out of your fucking sleep.* I laughed.

"Jean are you okay?" Mom's brows were furrowed as she peered down at me with a worried look, wiping my tears away.

I loved my mom. "No, mom. But having you here is great, I missed just being with you like that."

**BANG**. The entrance door of the penthouse was kicked open and slammed against the wall, mom jumping in surprise.

"Jeanie where are you?!" I lifted my head from mom's thighs, seeing my dad, dressed in a suit, his overly large coat over it. It was that chilly outside already? I never noticed.

Behind him, I felt Sarah approaching and she didn't stop, bowling into me and mom. "Jean!"

Julia slowly walked from behind dad, saw me and pointed her index finger at me. "She's here! Wait is she a ghost again?!"

I was tackled by my entire family. For the next two hours, I had a lot to answer for. Sarah slapped me for worrying mom and dad, then hugged me for coming back alive and somewhat whole. She looked at the state of my hair and told me to groom it. Julia didn't care how I looked; she was happy that I was back and questioned me about all that X-gene power shit.

Using my life-sight intentionally, I looked at my sisters. "Huh, well you two have dormant X-genes. Do you want me to activate them?" This was actually a good idea. I didn't want my family to become a target but if they did, they'd be able to defend themselves, which would be rad. Dad and mom weren't able to become metahumans, like us sisters, but I would find a way. Goldie made herself known and I understood her intentions, yes she was easily one of the ways to give powers to people. I would ask her about the details later.

Sarah frowned, letting go of my hand. "What do you mean?"

I smiled. "I am… so powerful now that I can activate or deactivate powers."

My elder sister rolled her eyes. "Are you boasting?" Her eyes were narrowed and she crossed her arms on her ample chest; she wore a warm green top with a black leather jacket with pants and winter boots.

I realized that it was winter, but I didn't feel cold or anything. I looked at the digital clock on the wall next to the TV. It was already 03:45 PM and December the seventeenth.

Chuckling I answered, "I don't boast, Sarah. I know that the Grey family, and all our ancestors were somewhat psionic, I can see it." I pointed two fingers at my eyes. Sarah was a telekinetic like me, Julia had some kind of energy manipulation power. Dynakinesis?!

Julia poked my side and had a dubious expression on her face. "Why are your eyes glowing a fiery yellow?"

I let go of the life-sight and my eyes became normal again. "A fucki- I mean it's a side effect of my powers."

"I can take some cursing, sis." Julia chuckled, catching on my slip.

She was wearing her goth outfit under a heavy black leather coat, her makeup kind of witchy. At least she didn't go the heavy face powder route. My sister was pretty; we'd all inherited mom's beauty from her, but why was she a goth? I never understood why. "Fine, but mom will slap my mouth if I do."

Mom bopped me behind the head. "Damn right."

I glared at her, then turned my head to Julia. "See?"

We laughed after this. We spoke for a while before mom had to remind me, "Maybe you should go see Cindy, the little dear was so sad that she had missed you giving us news of your escape."

"**CINDY**!" I stood up. "I'm going now, I will be back to see you tomorrow."

"You are still grounded when you sort out your business, young lady!" Mom shouted after me.

John, my dad, made a face at mom, understanding she was being downright unfair. "But darling, it wasn't her fault that she got kidn-"

Elaine raised her hand and stopped him from continuing. "Shut up John, she could have come home much sooner."

"Oh." Dad looked at me. A sly smile blooming on his face. It was Dad's 'You done fucked up' smile and I gulped, loudly. I received the most epic punishment with that smile. I teleported away as my sisters giggled, understanding I was in trouble.

**# # #**

**(Cindy Moon)**

**Queens  
Forest Hill  
Moon family Condo  
03:50 PM**

Cindy came back from school bummed by their little group having fractured a bit because of Peter fucking Parker. Cindy didn't know what had happened to the guy, but he'd clearly gotten worse since their last gathering. The way he treated Gwen was different from before- instead of treasuring her, she was treated like a needy girlfriend who seemed to berate him a lot and he didn't listen to her.

Cindy didn't see Gwen putting up with him much longer. She threw her backpack onto her bed and stripped off her winter clothes. Cindy took off her jacket, boots and jeans, only her top and undies remaining. She sent a stream of web fluid into the upper side of the ceiling and climbed the wall to hang there and think. It always calmed her since Jean was kidnapped, she couldn't believe that she had escaped and still not appeared before her.

She continued this train of thought until her greatest desire became true and there she stood, standing in the middle of her room. Cindy dropped from the ceiling and landed on her feet.

"Jean?" Cindy was elated- god damned joyful in fact- as she recognized her favorite person in the world.

Jean turned to her, her gaze landing on her and eyes lighting up with the same joy Cindy felt bursting within her. A sultry expression settled on her face. "Hey, sexy."

At that moment, Cindy remembered that Jean hadn't come looking for her when she told her family that she had escaped. She glared at Jean, raised a finger and prepared to start a rant. "You have some nerve! You didn't even-"

Jean was so fast that she blurred toward her and pressed her lips to her own that scorched her and made her curl her toes. The half korean girl relented, finding some changes in the person kissing her. She was taller, more muscular, but she smelled the same and kissed the same. *What happened to you, Jeanie?*

Jean broke the kiss and looked into Cindy's lust filled eyes. "I died." The redhead answered her lover's thought.

The lust drained from her body as she understood the implications of what Jean was saying. "Jean? Come on, you… you are alive." Cindy touched the soft yet muscular body of her girlfriend as if to feel her existence in reassurance that she was truly there.

Jean took Cindy's hands in hers, staring her dead in the eyes. "I know, but I died for ten minutes before being brought back. I returned because of my family, because of **you**."

A haze of love and lust overwhelmed Cindy's brain. "Just for that you're getting lucky." Before she even finished her sentence, her hands were at the hem of her top, pulling it over her head. Jean, still clothed, watched with rapt attention as her girlfriend stripped off all her clothes. She pinched herself. Cindy was lithe and athletic, the perfect balance between curvy and toned. It showed that she kept working out with Elektra, a thin thread of drool flowed from Jean's mouth as she looked at her agape. "Am I dreaming?"

As for Cindy, her lips curled into a sexy grin and with a 'come on' gesture, she said, "Jeanie, I am not letting you go after all that happened. You just came back to me when I was thinking of you. And I really want this, okay?" She took out her braids, allowing her ebony coloured hair to flow free and shook her head enticingly.

The redhead slowly walked toward the black haired girl, held her by her shoulders and crushed her lips against hers, letting her other hand roam all over her body. Cindy didn't have to take her girlfriend's clothes off, as Goldie immediately understood what was required of her and reabsorbed Jean's clothes inside her own body.

Cindy's hands glided over the body of her girlfriend and held onto her heavy boobs. Eliciting a moan from her. The black haired girl broke the kiss and said, "Take me."

Jean obeyed, pulling the gorgeous black haired girl into her arms, kissed her, then trailing kisses down her neck and collarbone. Cindy held onto her, not realizing how light she was to her lover who smiled as she reached the bed and delicately put her on it, laying her fully on the mattress. The redhead looked at the door behind her and noticed that it wasn't locked.

_Clack. Click._ Locking sounds came from the wood paneled door.

"No one will bother us."Jean's voice was a purr.

She predatorily climbed the bed on all fours and a great thrill shot through Cindy's body as Jean straddled her, staring into her eyes as they were face to face. At the same time they attacked each other, duelling first with their tongues and then to turn the table on each other, rolling all over the bed. At some point Cindy lost her panties, the sole article of clothing still left on her; Jean was naked as well.

The redhead won and was back on top and had a hand on Cindy's intimate place. The black haired girl gasped as she felt herself being touched down there. Jean licked her lips, proceeded to kiss Cindy for a minute, then slowly trailed kisses down the black haired girl's body; as she went down on her beautiful girlfriend, she found herself between her legs and proceeded to mercilessly lick and penetrate her secret place with her tongue.

Cindy was having the time of her life as Jean and her made love. She finally got the drop on her lover in the second round and reciprocated, as their blood sang, moans and cries of pleasure could be heard from Cindy's room. The young woman needed to feel that this wasn't a dream, that Jean was back and she was shown time and again for two hours that her lover was back and that she still loved her as intensely as before.

When their needs were satiated- for the time being- they were sweaty and in each other's arms, a satisfied grin on their faces. A bed sheet covered their state of nakedness. Jean kissed her girlfriend's brow, caressing the arm draped over her bust and playing with one of her breasts.

"I don't think two times was enough…" Cindy lifted her head and put her lips on Jean's.

Their tongues duelling once again, their romance was a competitive one. Neither of them wanted to win though, they broke the kiss and Jean gave her a sultry smile and waggled her eyebrows. "Still horny?"

The soreness Cindy felt in her lower body was delightfully pleasant, but just as her lover said she was still raring to go. Their hands were simply not enough, she knew exactly what they needed, after all, she had watched enough JAV porn for it. "We must get toys."

Jean had a faraway look on her face and she smiled in acquiescence, then nodded. "Totally agree with you."

Cindy knew her girlfriend and understood that she was already on the case. They stayed like that in companionable silence, not bothered at all by the fluids produced by their lovemaking. Cindy was the first to break the ice. "Jean."

Jean looked at her. "Yeah, hon?"

Cindy's facial expression became serious. "Did you kill him?"

She didn't see the problem in asking; her eyes widened as she saw two birds of fire in her girlfriend's eyes. "With prejudice."

As swiftly as they appeared, the two fire birds disappeared when Jean blinked. Cindy nodded mechanically. "Good."

That reaction from Cindy seemed to encourage Jean to talk more.. She averted her eyes, though, only looking at the ceiling as she spoke. "I… I kinda went crazy and killed and mind controlled the clones he had in his service. Then I took control of his bases all over the world and appropriated all his assets."

Jean seemed to be afraid of something, Cindy realized. Was it rejection she feared? However, Cindy didn't care about what she had to do to come back to her, she focused on a more important detail, "How much money?"

The tension seemed to bleed out of the redhead who tightened her hold on Cindy's body. "More than the Stark family."

Cindy gasped, then quickly recovered, a smirk pulling at her lips."You still on to be my Sugar Mama?"

Jean shrugged. "I plan to marry you later on; what's mine is yours, honey."

Cindy laughed out loud, assuming Jean was kidding; they were too young for that. She had even more problems with her mother and what would happen if she guessed that Jean wasn't just her friend, but her girlfriend, her lover she couldn't stop thinking about. Fortunately, her grades hadn't slipped at all. "Ha, you again with that joke. We are too young-"

Jean, however, wasn't laughing. Instead, she stared meaningfully at Cindy.

"You are being serious." The half korean realized.

"As a heart attack."

Cindy's thoughts were on overdrive, Jean wasn't plagued by self doubts because of her damned telepathy. She didn't think she was making a mistake, but what about Cindy? She didn't have the same advantage as her girlfriend. She was still new to this love stuff. "We will see how it goes, it's hard to say no to you when you are naked and in my arms."

Cindy decided she wanted to go slow, after all love came and went, if they were still feeling the same in three years she would be the first to buy the ring. Jean understood her girlfriend's intentions and decided not to push. "Same."

A long silence stretched after that. Cindy played with a lock of Jean's hair, lamenting the fact that it was butchered. She hoped that her girlfriend would take care of it later. A memory jumped into the forefront of her mind and Jean's empathy caught onto that so she shot Cindy with an eager to listen expression.

Opening her mouth she took her courage in her hands. "Say… is that offer of mind melding and telepathic link still on the table?"

Jean lifted an eyebrow at that. "Of course, what… oh."

The redhead could feel the ugly feelings brewing inside of Cindy whose eyes darkened with sadness and envy.

Cindy sighed. "When you first contacted Jessica, I was… I was really jealous that she could do that with you. We had a fight about it, but I remembered that it was my own fault for not accepting the first time."

Jean nudged her girlfriend with a finger. "Is Jessica still in one piece?"

Cindy chuckled. "I apologized, and Mrs E set me straight, we had that fight in your living room. Your sisters were stunned to have two girls fighting over you. You never told them you liked girls?"

Jean seemed to notice the change in the discussion but let it slide, continuing on the thread of thought about her sisters. "It wasn't that important, they never tell us about the guys they see. Why should I tell them I date the perfect girlfriend."

A frown appeared on Cindy's face. "Me, perfect?" She snorted at that until Jean played dirty. "Anh." Cindy moaned as Jean pinched her right pink nipple.

Jean looked at her with a superior smug expression. "See, you are perfect."

The atmosphere suddenly became hotter between them. Jean's hands slowly drifted from Cindy's arm to her firm buttock. Cindy felt her desire rev up and said, "You better continue what you started!"

Jean giggled and put Cindy's nipple in her mouth and things devolved in another sex fest.

**# # #**

**Back with Jean…  
Egypt, 12:20 PM (local time)**

We passed through the golden portal, Cindy trailing me as I entered my lab. I didn't even feel tired anymore, and it was strange how fast my stamina recovered. Cindy didn't want to be separated from me so she asked to follow me to my new base. We smelled like fresh shampoo and soap, having had a shower at her condo since we didn't want to feel so unkempt after deepening our relationship. We had to take them separately as the simple fact that we had sex made us want to do it all over again.

Cindy was a pervert, and I was enabling her. It didn't bother me, I was discovering facets of myself that I didn't know were there. I understood that I was a dominant person in bed, Cindy too, but I was more so than her and it made us fight while in bed.

Cindy… She was wearing her Silk costume made of web thread. From the pattern I could see with the silk on the front of her costume, I knew she'd gotten better at making costumes. She needed something permanent that showed off her sexiness but covered all of her body- it needed to be armored and able to stop weapon fire, resilient to drastic changes in heat, cold, pressure, density, dirt, etc…

"An unstable molecule suit, huh." I thought with my powers I could synthetize one for Cindy, I understood the concept.

The Unstable Molecules existed on the Angstrom edge between matter and energy and could interchange between either. These could be bonded to 'Anchor' molecules and transferred any change in environment they experienced to these anchor molecules.

Cindy angled her head toward my direction. "Jean?"

She had been examining all the equipment and glowing LEDs on the machines around us. Now that I had a lab, all it lacked was a bed, Cindy was here and that's all that mattered. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Nothing, hon. This is just me rambling."

"Okay." She leaned into me and we walked like that until we reached the forge.

"So this is my lab, I took it from the cold dead hands of the guy who kidnapped me." I smiled, pride shining in my eyes.

I could do everything those tools did with my mind but I wanted to do things with my own hands and maybe use my TK in tandem. Hans had already moved the vibranium ingots near the anvil and the large steel mill ladle.

Cindy didn't seem interested in all the gear. She was looking around on each wall. "Where's his mounted head?"

I frowned at her. "Huh?"

Cindy tilted her head. "When we were in my bed, you said that you mounted his head on your wall."

Then it dawned on me that I may have embellished my tale. "Not the real one, unfortunately…"

I carved a rock that looked like his head as I had burned every one of his clones. I should've saved some but I wanted to be sure of his death. Fire and disintegration had been the best solution to my Sinister problem.

Cindy shook her head with a mocking smile on her lips. "You burned him too well, huh?"

I laughed in embarrassment. "Yes. I was kinda mad when he killed me…"

Words could not explain the depth of my hatred for Sinister; he had made my life hell. *Hmm, my Phoenix costume is red instead of green. Am I… the Dark Phoenix? Is all this hatred going to my head? I need help, I must let go of it; maybe going to Kamar Taj is going to be a good idea.*

Cindy's hands tightened on my arm. "I'm glad you came back, I don't know what deal you made to be able to but…"

At that, my shoulders slumped. "Oh it's a big weight on my shoulders. I had to clean the planet from a parasitic bacteria that possessed humans into hating metahumans like us."

She let go of me and stared at me intensely. "Jean? All those people dying lately? It was you?"

I knew my girlfriend wouldn't abandon me so I told her everything I could. "Yeah, they died because the Sublime bacteria took control of them completely. Phoenix made me kill all the bacteria on the planet, but those people completely taken over died of some kind of sympathetic shock."

That's what my life-sight deduced, I felt somehow guilty about all those deaths, but the Sublime bacteria had turned all those people into monsters able to kill kids or experiment on metahumans. I wasn't able to just leave it and the Phoenix found it wrong and I was compelled into burning down that wrongness. My guilt evaporated when it then dawned on me that it was the reason for the Weapon X program or even why Trask began the sentinel program. I would have to zip over to Brazil to see if that man was still alive.

Cindy looked away for a while and I knew what she was about to say. "Was there any way to-"

I shook my head. "I would have done it, if I could."

I sat on one of the tables and watched as my girlfriend worried about me, pacing back and forth like a caged lion. "I see, I hope no one knows it was you who did it."

"I'm sure that there's nothing to worry about…" I trailed off, smiling.

Cindy walked up to me and grabbed me with a hand at the back of my head and was face to face with me. "Jean, look at me."

I did, she looked serious and my empathic ability felt that she was afraid, not for herself but for me. "You'll tell no one else about this. If they caught you, they would kill or judge you." I nodded, not possessing the ability to refuse her demands.

Cindy let go of me and placed herself between my legs and put my arms around herself.

"I had to. I tried to bring them back to life you know?" I remembered trying to resurrect everyone who died; but the form of a woman in tight black robes with white hair and pale skin stopped me. Lady Death had claimed all their souls and I couldn't take them back.

Cindy grabbed my arms and lifted up her head to look at me with awe. "You can do that?"

I nodded. "Yes, I can. But there's a price to pay." It wasn't like in the comic books, Death and the Phoenix worked in concert, I was an avatar of life and she could refuse to hand me the souls of the departed. There were a lot of rules that I didn't want to break for two hundred million strangers.

"And two hundred million was too much." My girlfriend caught on immediately.

I nodded. "Exactly." I kissed her forehead in reward.

Cindy closed her eyes in pleasure, her being radiating love and contentment. She opened her eyes and said, "Let's forget about it, but hum babe, I don't think you can go around calling yourself Phoenix anymore."

That's my favorite and official hero name though. "I see what you mean."

"Do you have any other ideas…?"

Looking at the lab's ceiling, I thought that if I couldn't be Phoenix, I would be… "I'm going as Batwoman then."

Cindy escaped my embrace, turned and shook her head. "There's a comic book like that you can't-"

A quirky smile spread across my lips. "I will buy DC comics, then I will call myself Batwoman." No pesky copyright laws could do anything about it if I was the owner right? I'd be unstoppable. I would let the fuss die down, but I would use the name Phoenix again.

Cindy facepalmed. "Yeah… you are rich enough for that. Do what you want."

I got off the table and tried to catch her but she fled down the engineering sector. After this game of tag, we made a tour of the gigantic lab while speaking about what our friends had been doing lately. I'd learned that there was trouble in paradise between Peter and Gwen- he'd become more annoying as time passed. It didn't bode well, but something made me ask, "Cindy what color is Peter's costume?"

"Hm, he went from red and blue to black and white, why?"

I halted for a second then ran at super speed to the containers I had placed in the lab earlier, I opened their doors and began to unload everything as delicately as possible. I felt Cindy arrive behind me, there was a question that she projected at me, loud enough for me to hear, **What's the matter? Did I say something bad.**

Activating my life sight I looked for the meteorite with the other Klyntar sealed inside. "No you didn't, but this is really bad." I emptied every container and finally found it, it was just a piece of space rock and there wasn't any life sign inside. I made it float toward us and Goldie became interested in what was happening, showing her head at the side of mine. I took the cracked meteorite in my hands and painfully closed my eyes, hoping to make the problem disappear.

I felt Cindy poke my belly. "Jean?"

Opening my eyes, I blurted out, "We have a big problem."

"Oh." Cindy nodded yet she didn't understand what the problem with the rock in my hands was.

"I know why Peter has become more assholish." Yes, the guy was an asshole day and night but it didn't make sense for him to be mean or horrible to Gwen- he loved the girl too much and considered her the only one worth dating in the entire world. He wouldn't jeopardize that.

"I don't have the time to go hunting for him, but I think you can." I told her.

This earned me a frown. "What happened to him?"

"You see Goldie?" Cindy nodded. "There's another one like her. It's a bit more delicate than her. I am a good host for her and she has been good to me."

Just like spiderman in universe 616, our Peter was guilt ridden, self loathing and prone to sadness. He should just get over himself and move on. "But Peter?" I continued. "He isn't a worthy host, there's too much negative energy inside him and the Symbiote is going to amplify it and take control of him and worse could happen, it might turn him into a monster."

I knew what a corrupt symbiote could do and it wasn't pretty.

[_Truthful_: Corruption.] Goldie said aloud.

It was all I needed to say to Cindy; she was already wired and ready to go. "We need to go then?"

I shook my head, crossing my arms as I watched her. "No, I am not going anywhere. But you will, I cannot leave, I have… responsibilities."

And I didn't trust myself not to hurt Peter. I needed to find balance again since I was too used to killing human beings.

"But he's our friend!" Cindy shouted, and I sensed her shock at the idea that I wasn't trying to help Peter. The boy was cute but not that cute, I knew that I would need to do more than take the symbiote away from him, he would need an isolated place to go against the cravings of having been bonded to one.

I looked into her eyes and announced, "I have a clone of myself that I need to take care of."

"YOU WHAT?!" Cindy's mind was in turmoil as she contemplated my revelation.

"Come here." I caught her and pulled her toward the corridor leading to my bedroom.

Cindy didn't pull her hand away from mine, docile as I directed us both to my bedroom. Her mind was still blocking on the fact that I had a clone. I opened the door slowly and put my index finger on my lips and slowly walked up to the queen sized bed. Madelyn was sleeping, her chest rising and falling as she snored contentedly.

As she looked at my clone with wide eyes, Cindy began to shake, then she looked between me and the younger version of myself.

"How old is she?" Cindy's voice was muted of all emotion but I felt the storm brewing within her.

"I don't know, one moment." I said and went to sit on the throne that activated immediately.

I consulted the file about Maddy and saw that she was three months old and had the potential of being an Alpha ranked metahuman. She was well developed and without defects for a clone that had been grown so fast. Well, I could see where my DNA started and where the bits of Elektra sensei were. It could be seen in her skin and how tall she was going to be.

Cindy waited for the verdict.

"She's three months old." I didn't know she was that young. It indeed coincided with the time I found Elektra sensei.

Cindy turned to Maddy. "No… she looks just like she's twelve or so." She said in denial.

Cloning wasn't that advanced outside my lab; Sinister had been a genius, something I could admit now that he was dead.

"She's thirteen years old physically, and mentally she's three years old. A baby." I wasn't letting Madelyn out of my sight, I couldn't.

Cindy shook her head, her bangs obscuring her face, concealing her eyes from my sight. "I think this is too much for today."

"I see, let's get back to the lab, I will whip you up a new costume. You can't take on the venom symbiote with Silk armor." I looked meaningfully into her eyes.

Cindy had better powers than Peter, to be honest. Her Silk power-set was combined with Miles Morales' and that made her really strong.

As she looked at herself, Cindy pulled at the white webbing pressing on her body; it was so tight on her... "What's wrong with it?"

I pulled my mind out of the gutter and decided to show her, I let Goldie turn one of my hands into battleform; my fingers turned into red claws and I walked up to her and sliced her half mask without cutting her face. "That's what's wrong with it."

"Oh." It seemed that she understood how dangerous a Klyntar battleform was.

My claws could tear through flesh, stones, could even cut through the strongest armor known to man. "Before going to see mom and you I was about to go make an armored costume for myself, but as I can't go with you. I'm going to let you have one first."

"But…" **What about you?**

I knew what she wanted to say, but I didn't want her to fight Peter without any sort of protection. "Nothing can kill me on this planet beyond four people. Come follow me."

We exited the bedroom through the corridor connected to the lab, silence our companion as we walked. My thoughts drifted to the costume I wanted to create. I knew that I wanted a UMF suit for Cindy and me, but not a normal one, it should be able to shapeshift.

*Shapeshift?* I caught Cindy's hand and walked faster.

When we arrived at the labs, I headed straight into the genetics section and booted the main computer. Fortunately, before our confrontation, Sinister had resolved the problems with the generators that I put into the control computer. The feedback loops and intermittent power loss wouldn't happen again. The computer booted up, automatically I was on the desktop and looked through the DNA sample database.

It was well organized and I knew where everything was. I could see that Sinister had met many aliens- Kree, Skrull, Alpha Centaurian…

I felt Cindy's hair on my cheek as I searched. "Jean, what are you looking for?"

She was being distracting. "Shapeshifting, that is the key." I answered absently.

"Shapeshifting?"

I finally found the folder with the complete study of Skrull DNA, and I clicked on the option telling me if I wanted to handle it directly. "Yeah the Skrull, Sinister met some and took a sample of their DNA. It's in my memories, it's how he got his own shapeshifting power."

Standing up, I left the computer to go directly into the DNA bank. It was in another room, contiguous to the computer's room. From the refrigerated steel shelves a vial was selected and I strode up to it. SS-01, or Skrull sample one. Just like I thought. When I turned, I saw Cindy's arms wrapped around herself as though the place was terribly cold.

I cocked my head. "Is there something wrong?"

Cindy's body shook with tremors. "How can you stand in here and not be cold?!"

"Huh? It's cold?" Looking around attentively, I saw that there were indeed a lot of ice molecules in the air, the room seems to be cooled by a nitrogen cooling system. Stupid Sinister, this was a dangerous system… I made the vial float and orbit around me and let out my inner fire.

Cindy stepped back, watching as my aura slowly raised the temperature around us. "Jean what happened to you?"

Walking up to her, I put a hand on her shoulder. "Like I told you I'm a Phoenix Avatar so… I can go to space easily, do you have any idea how cold it is up there?"

She stopped shaking as warmth seeped into her. "Let's get out of here. It seems that you are not good with low temperatures."

I felt her reluctance, but after a few beats she gave in, turning and quickly exiting. She was finally starting to register the differences between me from before and me from now. I had fused with Emily- or was it Emily who had fused with me? We mutually accepted this and formed this new being. Though it was actually my power that made her look at me like a different person.

The automatic door closing behind me, I settled on not letting the matter rest. "Hey Cindy, are you okay?"

Cindy paused, then turned to me. "I am, it's... just you surprised me, that's all."

I placed a hand on her shoulder again."If you don't feel at ease around me…" It would break my heart but I would let her go. I wasn't the type of person who would force others to stay with me.

"Shut up Jean." She snapped, knocking my hand away. Cindy pulled me by my tank top collar and said more soothingly. "Like I told you, you surprised me. You changed a bit, but I'm not letting that little detail get between us, okay?"

Maybe I was reading too much into this? I smiled sheepishly. "Okay."

We went to the scanning room where I took Cindy's measurements and entered them into the central computer and rendered a virtual model of the half korean girl. Making a costume wasn't difficult, there were programs to build armor on this computer, I would just use that. About fifteen minutes later a mannequin was made with the 3D printing machine.

It was made with Cindy's exact measurements, I then proceeded to look at the model of exo armor I stole from Oscorp. There were a lot of those prototypes, I brought it to me with my TK and looked deep in it's working. There were a lot of titanium fibers and some kind of fluid under the flexible plates overlaying it. Triple weave of the titanium dipped mesh.

Activating my life sight, I took the vial that was orbiting around me and looked through it. The DNA was really strange, completely different from what I was used to seeing in humans. However, I had access to Phoenix' memories and she understood how it worked. Be it organic or inorganic, Skrulls were able to alter their forms into that of anything they could imagine. That was really interesting.

The DNA was flexible but prone to weakness, and there were limitations as the Shapeshifting of the Skrull could only take on the appearance of person and none of that person's characteristics or, in the case of metahumans, their powers; in the case of inorganic objects, they took on its appearance, but not its properties.

*Still OP.* That shapeshifting was what I wanted the unstable molecules to be able to do for clothes and costumes. I knew how to make them theoretically.

We were back in the forge. The Skrull DNA sample was back in orbit around me, then I focused on the vibranium ingots, and gripped three of them and made them float over a ladle the size of a man. I turned to Cindy and said, "Maybe you should step back a bit, it's going to get… hot."

Arching a brow, she obeyed. I wanted the ingots to melt and melt they did. I tried to isolate myself and the forge from the outside, I didn't want to fry Cindy. I started with simple fire- blue flame to be exact- and the ingots warmed slightly. They didn't melt. I turned up the heat to white flame which gave the same results. I glared at the ingots; they were taunting me. "Fine, cosmic flame it is." I let out my cosmic fire and threw it at the ingots. I formed a force bubble around them and miracle, the silvery metal began to melt; I looked behind me, Cindy remained but was sweating a lot.

**You should go to my bedroom and take a bit of refreshment there.** I spoke to Cindy via telepathy.

She shook her head, even with the force-field protecting her and dampening the heat, it seemed unbearable to her. I could see her skin glowing with sweat. It was sexy. The ingots turned into molten metal and then I lowered the force bubble into the ladle. The metal poured into it and when it was full, I closed the lid. I then focused on the heat and gradually cooled the air by stilling the excited atoms.

*Iceman must feel like this all the time.*

After another hour I had to wait for the metal to arrive at a manageable temperature. I passed the time trying to see how I would start weaving the metal into fabric. Once the pure vibranium was liquid enough, I stored everything in the advanced 3D printer and let the computer do its magic. Two hours to have a prototype suit. One hour to have the base mesh suit made and another to implant circuitry inside for communication. I intended to transmute the suit into shapeshifting unstable molecules to marry the different qualities that I wished for it to have.

Meanwhile, I took Cindy with me to the kitchen attached to my apartment, offering her a drink. I had sports drinks, alcohol, and ingredients for cooking here. I didn't know how Hans had done it, but I was happy that he had. Chimera visited us, curious about the new mind she could feel in the base.

Cindy and my second in command stared at each other for some time and I feared a fight would break out. It didn't.

"Boss, you have been awake for eight days now, maybe you should rest?"

It was worse, she had come to play mother hen. Cindy looked at me, and mouthed 'boss?' and I nodded. **She's Chimera, my right arm in this base, she helped me kill Sinister. You can trust her, there's Hans my butler and two others I forcibly recruited.**

She shook her head, crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the bar.

Chimera, the blonde beauty, raised her chin toward Cindy. "And who is this?"

I glued myself to Cindy's side. "My girlfriend, Cindy. Cindy, this is Chimera. I went back to new york to look for her, there's trouble at home but I can't leave Maddy so-"

Chimera glared at me. "What are you talking about? I can take care of Maddy, go with her if you are needed!"

I didn't expect this and, as a result, Cindy looked happier all of a sudden. Still, I couldn't just give in like that; the little girl had grown on me and I couldn't just up and disappear. There was also the fact that dealing with Peter's mess seemed like a bother; though I saw the point, I couldn't just have a corrupt Klyntar on the planet.

I scowled at her. "But she might cry if she-"

She batted away my concerns, without even listening to them, with a wave of her hand. "Nonsense! She's a good girl, if I explain things to her."

I stared between Cindy and Chimera… the two were already in communication through telepathy. What the hell was happening? I knew this was going to cost me- helping Peter while in his current state was going to give me mental scars.

Cindy's eyes were pleading at this point and I caved. "Fine I will go, but when she wakes up I will be there; I'm not leaving her alone, she wanted to meet her other genetic donor anyway."

Fostering Maddy on Elektra might be good revenge. I smiled. "What do you think about guarding her in New York, Chimera?"

Chimera seemed thoughtful, then nodded. "That's a great idea! I've never been to America before."

Cindy shook her head as she must have guessed what I had in mind for sensei.

# # #

Cindy stayed until it was time to see the base of her vibranium tri-weave suit. She needed to contact the gang and inform them on what was happening to Peter. I was guessing the girls would miss school and conjure up some dastardly plan to keep the adults from asking questions. Mom was surely going to be part of the plot. I sent Cindy back into her room through a portal and that left me in the lab with her suit on the mannequin.

It was completely black, and had no spiderweb patterns- at least not yet. It had the consistency and flexibility of an undersuit armor but knowing what I knew of the original Panther Habit made of normal vibranium weave in the MCU… it made the user completely bulletproof, near-indestructible, and able to withstand explosive impacts without noticeable damage. It was also lightweight and didn't seem to inhibit mobility.

To test its durability, Goldie gave me my P226 pistol and I emptied a clip into it. I placed it down on the table and searched for damage. I came up empty. I smirked. My very first project seemed to be a success. I went to save the schematics in the computer's database just in case I ran out of vibranium, I knew I didn't have enough to make a complete armor for me, but Cindy was important to me, more so than a metal I was sure I could duplicate through transmutation.

The base suit made, I now wanted to test my unstable molecules transmutation process. As I didn't have the machine necessary for it yet, I accessed Phoenix' memories to see if there was a way to tweak our matter transmutation. The information was there but what it told me was that I was going to tire myself because of the artificial state of energy and matter of the substance I was going to create.

I resolved to test the process by taking three body armors out of storage,- the ones the clone soldiers employed by Sinister had used. The first body armor simply disintegrated when I touched it. I went too fast.

*Calm down, this is a matter of control, you are not a destroyer right now, but a creator that seeks to protect a loved one.* I inhaled, then exhaled after revising what I wanted. Unstable molecules, a quirky configuration of atomic nuclei and electrons. I wanted to synthetize them. Taking the second armor in hand, I let the creation juice out and tweaked the armor at the subatomic level, and under my eyes a wave of energy spread all over the armor, fundamentally changing its composition.

When it stopped, the black body armor had gained a blue sheen and when I touched it, its form remained. Squinting, I set my hand on fire and touched the armor, which suddenly mimicked its state and set itself on fire. I let go and the fire went out.

"Another win!" So it worked, now to see if I could add the shapeshifting.

I went to the third test armor and tried to duplicate my success and tried to combine the elements of Skrull; it went well at first, the energy spreading the change did just as expected but suddenly the armor began to disform as if cancerous cells were growing out of it! I took my hands away from it. The armor kept growing with no signs of stopping.

"Kill it with fire!" I spoke, unleashing my cosmic fire on it and started burning it.

It almost didn't work as the suit was growing but the cosmic flames did their job and began to eat away at it. Thirty seconds later there was nothing left of the third armor. I let the cosmic fire burn even the residue, I guess the world wasn't ready for it yet.

*At least I have my first success.* I thought as I looked at the second armor recalling the process.

**# # #**

**December 18th, 1996  
05:09 AM, New York time**

I was done, Cindy's armor was complete. It was a replica of the Silk spider morph suit, but it worked more like the Panther Habit, I had integrated retractable claws into it and a miniaturized communication system that was connected with my own that I had built in parallel in the form of a choker at the neck.

Nothing more complicated was added; I hadn't wanted to ruin the suit and it should suffice for now. The next iteration would be even more advanced! Though, I did feel drained after all that thinking and crafting. I went to sit on the throne-like desk chair and closed my eyes to rest them for just a second, yes one second.

_I saw a burning world, a battle fleet chasing after me and myself destroying them for their impudence. The destruction gave place to life as I lit the core of a dead planet that was being brought back to life and I willed the ocean into being and destined it to bear strong offspring. I flew into the void seeking what needed to be fixed or destroyed, bringing ruin to stagnation._

I jolted awake. Sweat covering me, the memories of destruction and creation alike eliciting strange instincts in me. Even if we had merged, there was still a period of acclimatization that I was under. But if I had those dreams every time I had to sleep it would get old really fast. Sitting straight I gazed at my surroundings, looking for anything amiss.

The cavernous space was still the same, the noise of machinery in the engineering sector was prevalent and despite that, I had slept like a log. Glancing at the time, I realized it was 06:01 AM and that I was late in wanting to be there for Maddy. I yawned, I felt hungry and icky at the same time.

It was time for breakfast. I teleported to my room, finding Chimera on my bed spooning my clone. Now I understood, Chimera treated Maddy like a doll, was it because she had had no childhood? I shrugged, and decided to test the bathroom facility.

It was divine, warm water cascading upon me and revitalizing me. That was until I felt the presence of Maddy and Chimera, their minds were no longer quiescent, they were awake. Smiling, I cut my shower short and dried myself with a thought, doing the same for the shower cabin. Goldie chose another tactical outfit for me, this time in red. Leather jacket, black t-shirt and a pair of tight jeans with warm and comfy boots.

Strangely this time, Goldie didn't add any weapons and I asked her why.

[_Derision_: Civilization, not needed.]

I would have to make do with my own powers, I guessed. And it had been a while since I went into Klyntar battle form but I felt that it was ready at a moment's notice. I opened the door leading to the bedroom, Maddy was indeed awake and she was trying to get Chimera to let go of her.

She looked at me with pleading eyes. "Mother Jean she doesn't want to let go."

I released a sigh, heading over to the bed and telling her,"Poke her in the arms or belly."

Madelyn obeyed and poked Chimera who was feigning sleep. Still, the blonde held on, so B I tickled her with psionic hands and she opened her eyes while laughing. "I surrender!"

"Good, now why don't we go have breakfast?" I asked, noticing Madelyn's eager expression at my suggestion.

However, it wasn't yet time for her to think about filling her belly as the tall blonde intervened. "Bathroom first!" Chimera shouted with a fist in the air, she loaded a shrieking Madelyn onto her shoulders and left for their ablutions.

The room was empty and I was left alone with my thoughts. "Well I guess it's my turn to feed the troops."

Thirty minutes later, I was in the kitchen preparing breakfast for everyone. I doubted that Hans, Regan or Philippa would acclimate to my current schedule, they were used to Egyptian time but if they looked for food they would find it here. Today I chose to go with the classics, eggs, bacon, sausage and pancakes.

The skillet was sizzling as I was finishing the last batch of bacon. I wasn't surprised to see Maddy coming, all clean and her hair resplendent, completely different from mine. Something twitched on my scalp and I found my hair growing visibly.

[_Smug satisfaction_: You're welcome.]

*Couldn't you have done that earlier?*

[_Apologetic_: Not enough nutrients, insufficient essence. Now there is.]

And that was that. My hair had lengthened and grown to reach my waist. Goldie didn't just grow it, she even repaired the split ends I had developed and modified the shade to a scarlet luster.

Madelyn looked at me in wonder, then twirled one of her own strands of hair."We are matching!"

"Sure baby, we are. Now come grab a bite." A pause. Then I flinched, realizing I'd said exactly what my mom told me every morning of my life.

Shaking my head, I tried not to think about that, setting down a plate of pancakes before Madelyn, decked in maple syrup. Fortunately, I cut them in bites beforehand. Chimera entered, her outfit different from earlier. It now consisted of a green short tank top showing her midriff, leather pants and cute heels.

"There's still some left?" My subordinate asked, the scream of her stomach clearly audible for Madelyn and I.

I pointed a finger at the stack of pancakes. "Still making some more, knock yourself out."

As I made more food, I felt three more minds awaken, but they stayed firmly where they were. I guessed they weren't that hungry; metahumans were a strange bunch, they were humans and sometimes not. Having power changed one's thought process completely. After a hearty breakfast, Chimera left to search for a coat for Madelyn.

As for me, I decided to go outside and gather ore in the desert outside the valley. As I collected enough, I transmuted the collected metal into an oval portable crystal cage by manipulating its molecular structure by shedding electrons to form positive ions. I now had a symbiote container. Once Goldie purified venom, I would force it into stasis.

I teleported into the lab and grabbed Cindy's spider suit. Doing so, I used my TK to style my hair into a loose ponytail. Sooner or later I would need the help of a professional, I was rich enough to have it taken care of. Madelyn in a big black winter coat with fur trimming around the hood, Chimera in a windproof green winter coat and Hans waited for me in the lab, by the forge.

"Hans? It's kinda early for you." I noted, looking at his pajamas.

I smirked; he wore pajamas. He clearly understood my thoughts and rolled his eyes. "Jean, you should have told me you were ready to sortie again."

"Sorry, but something has come up." Cindy wanted me to save Peter.

I still asked myself why I was bothering to go. *Because you would have liked someone to save you when you were younger.* My traitorous mind answered.

"Are you going to kill someone? Or raid a base?" Hans didn't even question the morality of my actions anymore, that was how awesome he was. Though his tone was flippant when he asked me this.

"No, save a friend." Hans' eyes widened in surprise, then he smiled. "Interesting, it changes from your usual M.O."

I frowned at that. "Hey!" Just because I crushed an army by myself didn't mean I should get used to it!

Hans then looked at how disorganized the lab was, grimacing with disgust. "I guess I will have to establish some form of order to all this chaos. If you'll excuse me." He left striding like a big cat out of the lab.

"Argh." That man was infuriating!

Chimera, meanwhile, looked at Hans' posterior. I bopped her behind the head with my TK. "Do you need a fire hose to calm you down?"

Chimera raised her hands to placate me. "No, Boss. I am good."

"Hmph, that's what I thought." I turned my head and tried to ignore her but Chimera laughed at me. I sighed, you couldn't find good help all the time huh.

"Maddy, are you ready to meet your other mom?"

"Yes!" She threw a fist in the air, almost falling because of the massive coat on her small frame. That was cute… I shook my head with a smirk on my face and opened a portal to Elektra's dojo. I could see the snowfall while it was still dark. A wave of cold spread into the lab. "Well let's go."

**# # #**

**(Elektra Natchios)**

**USA, New York, Queens  
Elektra's dojo  
07:12 AM**

Elektra woke up hearing the door to the dojo open. In silence she took two Sai from under her pillows and left the bed. She heard creaks from the wood panelings on the other side. Elektra didn't need to get clothes, as she always slept in comfy yet practical outfits when she wasn't with Matt- if he was there the two of them would stay in the nude.

The shinobi already exited her bedroom to go into the living room. She was surprised the Hand would bother looking for her now; she had ramped up her training as they had been pushy lately. Madame Gao was an impatient shrew. Elektra hoped this wasn't another capture attempt on her, or she'd show no mercy if that was the case; some people should have a sense of propriety and not bother someone this early.

Feeling someone behind the door leading out of her living space, Elektra opened the sliding door separating her apartment from the dojo and struck with her Sai that was deflected by… claws? Someone with considerable skills, and when her foe revealed herself she couldn't believe her eyes.

*Jean?*

The red hair and the green eyes were a dead giveaway, nevertheless, Elektra continued her assault and attempted to clock the girl on the temple with the butt of her Sai but it was deflected again. The girl before her was taller, older and had a similar physical build to her. Elektra dared not hope yet, as she was familiar with clones and lookalikes. Elektra had to be sure this young woman was her beloved student.

She lunged and delivered a series of punches and kicks that would have left Jean struggling when they had spared the last time. They were all deflected or evaded. The redhead retreated into the dojo, giving Elektra more space to fight in. The shinobi turned around the young woman and looked for an opening there were none, all of a sudden, the redhead attacked with a punch that Elektra sidestepped and caught a knee strike in her free hand.

At the last moment, Elektra avoided a headbutt that would have done some damage if she hadn't seen it coming and retreated five meters from the redhead. She was stronger, and her reflexes were superior to Jean's but the cocky smile plastered on her face? It was unmistakably Jean.

The shinobi's body filled with her chi, reinforcing her muscles, allowing short little breaths to fill her lungs. Her two Sai twirled in her hands as she jumped at her opponent who mimicked her and had her claws out. As they met a flurry of evasions, feints and counters began. Motes of yellow and ephemeral chi swirled around Elektra's weapons and was met by the golden hued chi of her opponent who decided to disarm her, Elektra let her but she snaked her arm around the redhead's arm and they were immediately on the ground.

Elektra straddled the young woman with her Sai on her neck. She had won. Elektra had never doubted that her martial skills would be surpassed by her student. Jean had refined her technique, moved almost like her even, but she had always been a bit more brutish and willing to get hurt. Elektra knew Jean inside and out, despite her new tricks and superior advantage, the young woman had lost to experience.

"Hello sensei." The voice was Jean's, an older version of her.

She had no doubt left that this rather different Jean was the real deal. Elektra permitted herself a smile, her battle lust giving place to the jovial and quirky teacher that the young woman knew.

Elektra removed her Sai from Jean's neck and congratulated her. "You have gotten stronger beyond my wildest dreams. Who taught you to circulate chi?"

The greek woman put a naked hand on Jean's collar bone, pushing her own chi into her and was surprised to see that her student had so much of the life giving energy in her body. It was like she was a fountain that kept on giving. Elektra took her hand away from Jean who didn't get upset at her teacher touching her chest.

"Would you believe me if I told you that Goldie did?" The redhead said as if in jest.

Elektra glared. "No."

*This is dangerous, Jean has opened all her energy centers. I am teaching a gifted student and the Chaste may come knocking if they become aware of her… right not if, when.* Elektra stood, offering Jean a hand to pull her up.

*The Hand might get an interest in Jean too, Madam Gao would use her to hurt me or to bring me back into the fold.*

Jean took it, chuckling. "Ah too bad, she's the one though." She then began to dust herself off.

Elektra still didn't believe her, but it wasn't important. What she needed to do was teach Jean how to mask her inner chi. "You are still a journey woman." Elektra declared. "Your next training sessions and spars are going to be harsher with me and Matt."

Jean shook her head and cried out, "Urgh. No, please, not yet!"

Elektra laughed, this was it. How she had missed those interactions with her favorite student, torturing her mentally and pushing her buttons was still as fun as she remembered. "Jean?"

"Sensei?"

Elektra engulfed Jean in her embrace and held onto her tightly. "I knew you'd escape, you are my student."

The shinobi felt herself being patted on the back. Jean's voice was tight with emotions when she spoke, "Thanks, I knew you'd believe in me."

Elektra then stepped back from her student, still holding onto her hands. She remembered where she had seen the type of eyes her student now had. Those were the eyes of a killer, she knew her precious student had killed a lot of people already, but Jean didn't seem to be well at all. "How many?"

"What?" Jean frowned.

Elektra asked again, tightening her hold on Jean's hands. "How many did you kill to be free?"

Elektra saw the easy going teenager persona melt like snow under the Sahara's sun and be replaced by a cold blooded killer. There was sadness in those eyes, reluctance to do harm but she would be able to dish out punishment as needed.

"I make Hitler, Mao and Stalin look like kindergarteners." Jean admitted, brutally honest. Elektra released Jean's hands in shock, her mind reeling and her brain leaping to the only event with the biggest body count in history. "The falling? That was you?"

Jean looked down and nodded. "I was partially responsible." Her voice was small, so unlike Jean Grey.

Elektra placed her Sai in the elastic band of her shorts and began vigorously massaging her temples. "I need coffee."

"Before that, sensei… I have something important to tell you." Jean interrupted her.

Elektra stared at the problem child before her. "Which is?"

"We have a daughter."

Another younger redhead, in a black winter that consumed her, stepped out from the darkness of the dojo and smiled nervously at Elektra. "Hi, mother Elektra."

With a smooth movement Elektra's Sai was clutched in her hand and pressed against Jean's throat again. "Jean, explain **now…** or I will stab you." The assassin in her woke up and for the first time since meeting Jean, her tone now cold and dangerous.

The older redhead gulped loudly.

**# # #**

**Back with Jean…**

For an hour, I had to tell her everything that had happened to me- waking up with a broken back, Goldie being instrumental in my escape, how she healed me and taught me how to circulate my chi, how I cheated with the Phoenix to get to this level of Chi manipulation. How I used some of her teachings and knowledge to sow chaos and used it to create distractions and feints to keep my foe unbalanced. To lower the clones' morale.

Chimera sat with us in the living room, nodding her head repeatedly as I described what I did. Elektra had Madelyn's head on her thigh and was caressing her hair absently. It had taken barely twenty minutes for the little girl to win her over. The folder and blood sample with Madelyn's genetic information and her general health were opened on the table; I was happy to have thought about that actually.

Elektra would be able to ascertain the truth. It took me a bit of time to finish my story on the bacteria calling itself Sublime and the effects it was having on humanity. Elektra looked horrified by the organism's possession powers and the things it seemed to have pushed some governments to do. Because yes, why would I keep silent about the Weapon X program? It was a horrible dirty secret of the US government that I would expose to the light in due time.

"I… thank you for being straight with me." Elektra sensei inclined her head slightly.

I never lied to her, not once. "I promised you that I would tell you the truth when you took me on as a student."

There were emotions akin to longing, loss and resignation swirling inside sensei. She put words into her feelings, her smile sad. "But you don't seem to need me anymore?"

I glared at her; I was not a quitter. Killing Sinister did not mean I wouldn't have other assholes after me, trying to control me. "Bullshit, you think I want to stay a journey woman martial artist forever? You are the best, sensei. I would never settle for anything but the best. And to be frank with you, I have too much power…"

Hope burned suddenly in Elektra, but she still held onto her emotional resignation like a free hug sign. "Oh really?"

Shaking my head, I stood up, my gaze piercing. "I want to be like you. To know how to use my natural advantages. I will have separate training for my powers." I held out a fist, making it glow with Chi.

Elektra nodded, understanding. "The path to mastery never ends, Jean."

I rolled my eyes. "I am immortal now, it doesn't scare me. But I want **you** to guide me on this road."

I wouldn't have it any other way- yes, she may scare me and go too far in training but she cared for me. Matt still didn't like me, Black Widow would be too much of a hassle to track down and I wanted to help Sensei survive her final confrontation with the Hand intact and stick it to the Chaste deep in their collective asses.

Elektra sensei remained thoughtful for another five minutes. Madelyn was like a little cat being taken care of by her second genetic mother. Chimera was playing with her powers creating mini dragons floating around Madelyn's head.

Sensei lifted her head and said aloud, "Very well, we shall continue your instruction."

I pumped a fist in the air. "Yes! Thank you sensei, you won't regret it!"

"You are a good student." Elektra sensei was lavish in her praises.

Jean we need help, can you come? Cindy is having a hard time convincing Gwen. Jessica said in my mind from afar,and I located her instantly finding she was at… was that home? Yes it was.

My head turned to Sensei who seemed to be concerned by my reaction. "I need to go, Jessica is calling me."

I had told sensei why I was back in New York, she approved. Peter needed help, as he had become a rather more violent vigilante than before. That wouldn't do...

"I will keep your friend and Maddy safe." Elektra sensei said, she was already going to spoil the girl...

I slightly bowed, and added a formal tone to my voice. "Thank you, sensei."

Turning toward the dojo, I left the living room and went to get my girlfriend's costume and the symbiote prison. *Peter you better be thankful when I am done with you.*

**# # #**

**(Gwendolyne Stacy)**

**Grey Penthouse  
08:55 AM**

"Do you have any proof?" Gwen tone was mocking.

She couldn't believe what she was hearing, and that she was playing hooky from school. *There goes my perfect attendance score.* She thought that her Mother was right, friends derail the most well laid scholastic plans.

Gwen sighed, thinking about all the problems she'd faced with her boyfriend for the last month. Problems that were supposed to be the fault of some kind of symbiotic amorphous alien life form. Peter had been nearly insufferable and rude since Jean had disappeared. Even Mrs Grey had a bad time believing them but she had that thoughtful expression on her face as she remembered something.

Nevertheless, the simple fact that Jessica and Cindy thought that it was true played in her mind. The simple fact that she had powers had changed the way Cindy interacted with the world. Gwen had noticed that Cindy was into embroidery and sewing without using any needles. As for Jessica, she was kind of more subdued without Jean; her best friend and the one who helped her embrace her powers and herself. The pink haired girl spent her time flying over New York at night, her new hobby.

Jessica was on the red leather sofa, her eyes closed in concentration. She reopened them, looking straight at Gwen with an impish smile. She straightened her red colored skirt and said, "I do, brace yourself."

"Hm?" Gwen rolled her eyes, but at the same time she felt someone breath in her ear and she stood up in surprise.

She turned and saw someone she heard was alive and kicking but hadn't been to see her at all. Gwen stared up at Jean, with all her long red hair and… her vision blurred. Those were tears flowing from her eyes. All of a sudden she found herself engulfed in Jean's arms. "Heya, Gweny."

Gwen held tightly onto her friend. "Jean, I thought…"

Jean caressed her blonde hair and said soothingly, "I'm alive, I escaped."

The blonde pixie stepped out of Jean's embrace and looked at her. She found her redheaded friend to have changed. "You're taller, more muscular. What happened to you? Your hair is kinda bothering me, it's too long."

Jean took on a sad expression, sliding her fingers through her hair. "Yes, do you know a good hairdresser?"

As a matter of fact there was her favorite hair salon and other places that her mother brought her to for different situations. "Mom does!"

Jean had met Mrs Stacy earlier before her kidnapping and the two hit it off. Another sign she may have made a mistake by stopping her pursuit in her and letting Cindy win the redhead's heart. Gwen eyed the half korean girl who glared at her for monopolizing her girlfriend.

Jean slapped Gwen's shoulder delicately and announced, "Let's table a girl's day out in the calendar when we are done with Peter."

Gwen looked as a big silver suitcase flew through the air toward Cindy who caught it. Jean threw her a thumbs-up, earning a smile from Cindy. Then she disappeared upstairs as fast as she could.

Jean took Gwen's hand and pulled her toward the sofa. The blonde girl directly got to the point. "By the way, what's this I hear about alien symbiotes? That it influenced Peter into becoming that… that douchie…"

"It's true." Jean confirmed, all serious.

*Shit if Jean says it's true…* Jean had always been frank with her. It was something she really liked about her- how she was honest with the people she cared for.

Gewn blinked, then found a golden goo-like thing oozing from Jean's arm and forming a head with eyes and very scary long teeth. "This is Goldie, my partner."

"Aaaaaaaaaah!" a strident scream escaped Gwen at the sight of the symbiote who rippled at the sound of the girl's voice.

Goldie wrapped a tentacle around Gwen's right hand, frantically trying to make it let go of her. "Get it off! Get it off!"

The symbiote relented, seeming hurt by the dislike from Gwen, returning into Jean. Jessica didn't know whether to laugh or be mad at Jean as she had received the same treatment months ago. Loyalty to her other girl friend won out. "Jean that wasn't cool!"

Goldie peered at Gwen looking to see if she was still scared. The little blonde sauntered away from the sofa.

Jean shrugged and smiled, "Sorry. Goldie come back!" She apologised, not looking sorry one bit. The symbiote returned inside her host without a sound.

"What the fuck?!" Gwen shouted as she pointed at Jean and the monster she was harboring.

Fortunately for everyone, the voice of reason interrupted the shouting match that was brewing. "Language young lady!"

All of the girls looked at the Grey matron with sheepish expressions or guilt.

It was Jessica who apologized to her first. "Huh, sorry Mrs E."

Elaine Grey eyed each of them who were averting eye contact with her. Jean herself tried to look innocent but failed. "Teenagers. So Jean that's your secret? Oh, and where's my hug?"

Gwen looked at Jean and her mother, who didn't seem to mind the alien monster in their midst. The woman seemed to have nerves of steel.

"Sorry… mom." Jean stood up from the sofa, going over to her mother and embracing her in a hug, her mother not wanting to let go of her.

Gwen was still shaken by the proof that they weren't alone in the universe. "Jean… that… What..?"

Jean sat at her mother's side, sighing heavily before giving Gwen an explanation. "Symbiotes are real, Goldie is benevolent because I treat her like a person. She's also part of me, she saved my life and was instrumental in my escape. I wouldn't be here without her. Symbiotes amplify what people are deep down, I think that I've gotten more prideful since I got Goldie..."

Gwen was smart- one of the smartest girls in this room beside Jean- and she understood the ramifications of what Jean was telling her. Peter was a sweet guy, as smart as her but prone to procrastination and subject to self loathing and survivor's guilt after what happened to his uncle. Then there was his activities as a vigilante born from the need of wanting to do the right thing.

"Then Peter?" Gwen said aloud as she understood that deep down Peter may have let his dark side win out.

Jean crossed her legs and folded her arms, looking rather detached from the situation. "Let's not sugarcoat it. Peter is an **asshole**, and you are one of the only people, along with May he bothers being civil with."

Gwen closed her eyes, aware of that. The simple fact that he had treated Jean like dirt the first time they interacted after she gave him her condolences was proof. It had tainted any amicable relationship they would have, because Jean was prideful and didn't give second chances easily.

Jean continued, "He should have gotten over himself after his uncle's death, but he kept guilt tripping himself because he let the guy who killed Ben go without stopping him. If you weren't there Gwen he would keep pushing everyone else away until he was completely alone, or worse end up under the foot of another woman like Mary Jane Watson."

This was the first time Gwen heard of that. *That's why! He should have told me, or told May! He thinks he killed Ben...*

Jean stood, pacing between the sofas. "He must treat his symbiote like a thing, a costume that gives him better advantages. And that isn't how you treat them… they can become corrupted and eat their host if they are unworthy."

The golden symbiote's head appeared on a tendril out of Jean's shoulder. [_Truthful_: Corrupted, need cleansing.]

Everyone turned to Jean n for the answer of what the seemingly telepathic symbiote was saying. Gwen couldn't believe that everyone wasn't more wary of the alien after discovering it was telepathic! "Think of the cleansing as resetting a computer to factory settings. A complete blank. But the problem is weaning the host from the Symbiote's influence on his body. I won't lie to you, it's gonna be hard Gwen."

"So… it's not Peter's fault?" Gwen questioned, hope laced in her voice.

Jean snorted. "Oh believe me, it's his fault. But the Venom symbiote influenced his base instincts, so I will give him a pass, as you should. For now, Peter needs a good ass kicking. Wanna help?" the redhead smiled at Gwen.

Gwen looked eagerly at Jean, a vicious glint in her eyes. "When do we start?" She didn't want to feel useless, and wanted to do something to help her boyfriend.

"This afternoon." Jean told her as her red jacket disappeared inside herself, leaving her tight black tank top. "But first, I'm going to give you superpowers."

Gwen reacted to that with a thrill of excitement. "Huh? How…?"

"Easy, you just have to lay on this sofa and I will do the rest." Jean walked up to her and pulled her to the big sofa.

Gwen let herself be handled by the redhead. "Fine…"

Jean put a hand on her forehead and Gwen was asleep in no time, wondering what type of power she would be given, she didn't want spider ones like that bitch, Cindy.

**# # #**

**15 minutes later…**

Gwen woke up with a headache and a sore was sweating and feeling rather warm. Her vision was blurry and… perfect. It was different before as she had damaged her eyes through reading excessively. The white walls and the comfy red leather sofa told her she was still at Jean's. Carefully sitting up, she noticed that she was alone in the living room.

She stood up and found herself jumping into the ceiling, slamming into it. Gwen fell back on the ground and ended up crushing the low table. The noise garnered attention to her as she heard footsteps coming from the upstairs and quickly tried to get out of the ruined wooden furniture.

Cindy was the first to arrive, wearing a black and white quality costume with some kind of red half-face mask with black webbing patterns that looked like a ninja mask out of mortal kombat.

"Hey, I liked that table." Jean arrived behind Cindy, looking rather cross with her blonde friend.

"Hmm, we shouldn't have left her alone." Elaine Grey shook her head at the sight of her crushed low table.

Gwen looked in panic from the broken table to the cracked ceiling, then stared at Jean. "What's happening to me?"

The redhead chuckled, levitating toward her. "Well, Gweny. I gave you a variant of the FISS package."

"FISS?" Gwen repeated, her voice shrill. She didn't even understand what it meant.

Jean threw a fist at Gwen at super speed, the blonde caught it. There was a little shockwave spreading from them making all the crystal figurines on the furniture jump or fall. "Flight, Invulnerability, Strength, Speed."

"Wow." Gwen released Jean's fist to stare at her hands. Her body was still aching from getting messed with and she still didn't understand how Jean could manipulate DNA and genes without equipment but it was worth it; she had powers now.

Jean floated in the air, making a gesture to Gwen to follow her. "Your body couldn't handle more of the DNA manipulation, I had to reduce the efficiency of the power set, I didn't want my friend to turn into goo. So, you have flight, you can fly as fast as me, but you are as durable as Jessica, I tested, your skin is as dense as hers."

Gwen focused, wanting to fly. She lurched into the air following Jean's trail, laughter bursting from her. The redhead continued to speak, explaining what she did to Gwen. "You have super strength, you can lift something like thirty tonish? And you're fast and agile with augmented reflexes."

Jessica chose to interrupt. "So she's SuperGwen?"

Everyone in the room stopped and looked at Jessica who kept laughing at the name. But Jean didn't and put on a thoughtful expression. "Yeah, damn I like that name."

"Welcome to metahumankind, Gweny." Jean announced.

Right then, someone chose to rain on their parade, not sounding happy. "Jean before leaving to save your friend, you better clean the living room." Elaine Grey commanded.

Jean's smile wilted and she felt the glowering eyes of her mother trained on her. "Yes… ma'am."

They proceeded to do just that. Jean fixed the table, making it good as new by reassembling it at the molecular level. The girls helped place all the crystal figurines back in their place to let them take in the light from the sun. They all watched as Jean fixed the cracks in the ceiling.

Elaine nodded, satisfied everything was in place. "Good, now I'm going to call Peggy. She needs to know that you are back."

Gwen saw as Jean sped and found herself before her mother, her hands grasping her shoulders, her eyes panicked. "Mom! No! She's going to-"

A glare from Elaine stopped her cold. "I don't care what you think you are doing playing ghost, but that woman was worried sick for you. She likes you and you owe it to her to let her know that you are alive and well."

Jean pulled her hands back from her mother's shoulders as if she had been burned. But she found the courage to look into her mother's eyes. "Yes mom, I understand though. I think it's time to end our relationship with SHIELD, living under scrutiny has become... bothersome. I found countless cameras and microphones of various sizes in the penthouse. We are going to have to move, again."

Gwen, Jessica and Cindy all gasped at the clear invasion of privacy. They understood Jean's stance- she wanted out.

"I guessed that you wouldn't." Elaine nodded, not as fond of this house as the one in Annandale. She had only stayed for Jean.

Jean continued on, hopeful that her mother was listening. "I've seen a good manor North of my school, it has thirty rooms, we will go see it later when everything is settled, okay?"

Elaine stared at her daughter as if she were crazy. "We don't need a place that big…"

Gwen told herself the same, the Grey family didn't need such a big place and Elaine didn't seem to be the kind to flaunt their money. She knew that the Greys were well off but not that much.

"I am anticipating some needs we will have, don't worry." Was Jean's excuse.

Elaine sighed, leaving the room as she knew she'd lose this argument with her daughter. She had plans and all she could do was help Jean realize them. The redhead turned to her superpowered group of girls.

"Okay girls let's go plan how we will take down Pete!"

Gwen nodded, eager to get back at Peter and make him turn back to the sweet guy he had been before.

**# # #**

**(Peter Parker)**

**Forest Hills  
Parker Residence  
04:45 PM**

Peter felt danger as he stepped into his house. The darkness in the living room slowly encroached upon him and his spider senses were on full alert. He almost let himself change into his black costume, as he noticed that there were noises coming from upstairs. Oh so slowly, he went up the stairs; they didn't creak as he did maintenance on the house in Ben's stead since he died.

The young man heard voices- female voices- speaking about his computer and how he had built it. He recognized Gwen and… *Grey?*

He ran up the stairs, pushing the door to his bedroom open, finding Gwen on his bed straddled by Jean who was looking into her eyes. The fury that consumed him at the sight made him irrational. His body rippled and black goo oozed out of him as he entered directly into his battleform. As he was about to launch himself at the two cheating bitches, something happened to his costume that began to seize and shake.

**Vrrrrrrrrrr**. A strident noise rang out, finally registering to his ears. The source of the noise was brought near his head, his costume peeling off him, leaving him in his own clothes. Peter was on his knees, his vision blurred as the sound kept making him feel faint. A feminine silhouette on the ceiling kept pointing a device at him. Now he understood what his spider senses were telling him, he was being hunted by his own friends.

At this point, his symbiote left him completely to protect itself and was scooped up with an invisible force into some kind of glass prison. Even through the blurry forms he could see Jean walking toward him. Without thinking, he lunged at her. It was so sudden that he caught her and they ended up opening a hole in his bedroom wall.

**CRASH**.

As they were in midair, Peter was caught by the back of the collar of his t-shirt and felt himself fall. "Quick, go put Venom into stasis!"

Peter was smashed into the backyard of his home by someone he recognized to be Gwen. His vision sharpened and he saw her wearing some kind of all black tactical clothing, jacket, tight top, khaki pants and combat boots. She looked like a little of a girl playing army.

"Peter, don't fight." His girlfriend asked, and it felt more like a plea. Peter shook his head.

He had trouble thinking, feeling weaker and cold without his symbiote. He hadn't felt the cold for so long with his symbiote and now it was bone chilling. "Gwen? What the hell are you doing? What were you…. With Grey?!"

Gwen blushed, then looked awkwardly at him and waved her hand, as if dismissing his concern. "Ah that? It was to get you mad and to make mistakes."

Peter shook his head. "I don't understand, since when was she back?" He still had an urge to kick Jean's ass for making a pass at his girlfriend in his own home… in his bed. His knuckles cracked at the mere thought of it as he tightened his hands into fist.

Gwen slowly walked up to him. "That's not important, Peter. Are you going to fight us?"

Peter snorted at the notion. Gwen wasn't a fighter but an egghead. "Fight? As if you could-" His spider senses warned him and he moved his head to the right avoiding being punched in the face by Gwen.

She attempted to knee him in the groin but he jumped to avoid it. What he couldn't understand was how she followed him into the air and clocked him in the stomach, sending him crashing into the palisade. When he righted himself, Peter saw that Jean was also with Gewn and she screamed, "Symbiote neutralized!"

Peter watched as the redhead held onto the oval form of the crystal container they had put his symbiote in. The container simply disappeared from her hand. That instilled panic in him. Peter didn't have his web shooter, he had used his symbiote to store his gadgets. Now he had nothing to take them back. He didn't care, though, and ran fast enough to avoid Gwen and Jessica and not let them catch him and jumped high into the hole in his house only to be kicked out by Cindy who swung from within, she slammed her feet into him.

"Hnnnggg." Peter cried out.

Then he felt himself being slammed in the back, landing face first in the snow. He felt an arm snake around his neck and his arms being forced behind his back.

"Got him." Jessica said from behind him.

Peter clenched his jaw, angry he was being manhandled by a bunch of girls! "No, you don't." He told her before he freed his arms and shoulder checked Jessica, reversing their position. He didn't punch her, still holding some kind of feeling that it was a bad idea. Jumping back he was confronted with Jean that looked down on him from up in the air.

"Coward, come down here!" Peter raged as he saw her, his facial features deforming into a rictus of rage.

"Oh?" Jean levitated down and landed before him.

Peter glanced behind him, Jessica and Gwen staying back as if they knew something he didn't. He put his eyes back on his perceived enemy, only to barely avoid the haymaker that would have rattled him down to his bones as the missed punch displaced air. He kicked her in the guts at the same time, eliciting a grunt from her but she caught his leg. With a shove, she sent him into the door only for him to recover midair and land on the beam supporting the little porch leading inside the house. He jumped at Jean who lunged at him too and clocked him on the shoulder, and caught his torso between her legs and heaved him under her and they slammed into the snow.

Jean began to punch him in the face, using enough force to kill a grown man. Peter caught her fist and punched her in the kidney and she rolled away from him. This was the first time that Peter had to fight someone as relentless as him, he took damage and Jean seemed to take his best hit with aplomb. Though he hit her with enough restraint that it seemed to not work. Could Jean be as durable as him. He thought so.

"Okay, I gave you what you wanted, a fisticuff bout, but now I'm bored." Jean said as she loosened her stance.

Peter frowned, his rage still blinding him to certain facts. "What are you talking about?"

Jean tilted her head. "Peter, you know that I'm just humoring you, right? I don't have to fight you in close combat or anything."

Suddenly, Peter felt himself being grasped by an invisible hand that caught him. His spider senses were useless as he felt himself being caught by all sides. In his fury, he'd forgotten what type of power Jean possessed. "Shit. Are you-"

"I'm sorry Peter, you may hate me, but your wellbeing matters to me and others. Just a tinsy bit for me." Jean showed a one inch space between her index and thumb. "After all, the world needs a balanced and sane Peter Parker. That stint with the symbiote? It's not going to happen again, you better forget it, you aren't worthy of such power in your current state."

"The hell are you saying? It is mine! I found it." He told her, shouting.

"Well, Peter, you continue to prove me right. Did you think your symbiote was the only one in circulation?" Jean's body oozed a gold symbiote that covered her entire body. She entered into her own battleform.

It was attractive and much better looking than his all black look. Once again, he was confronted with the fact that Jean Grey was better than him. Everything he seemed to have for himself she seemed to do better, his parents were dead, she still had hers even with siblings that cared for her. Better powers, and now she had a better symbiote.

"Wow, you make everything about you, don't you? You don't deserve Gwen, after what you put her through too."

"Jean can you finish it please? We have places to be." Jessica hollered from the back.

"Fine." Jean's right hand lit up with electric arcs. "I'm sorry it's gonna hurt, Peter. I'm respecting your willpower and toughness, I'm not going to go easy on you. I died twice already."

"Fuck you and your-" His cussing was interrupted by the lightning shot at him and electrocuting him into unconsciousness.

**# # #**

**(Gwendolyn Stacy)**

Gwen watched as Jean didn't take any chances with Peter and anesthetized him and put him into heavy cuffs. She made him float toward Gwen and she loaded her boyfriend on her shoulder in a fireman carry, she didn't even feel his weight. *Having superpowers sure rocks.*

"He is kinda tough. I don't think I could beat him in pure combat yet." Jean commented as though she was disappointed by the results of her battle.

Gwen felt that she made a good showing, but Peter was rather strong too and a quirky opponent. The thought that he didn't even believe her a threat was grating and kind of made her want to slap him for it.

"Yeah, he was really strong but also reluctant to hit me." Jessica piped up, massaging her collar bone where Peter shoulder checked her.

Jessica chuckled and looked at her blonde friend who seemed a bit dejected. "He didn't even look mad at Gwen."

Jean said absently, "No, he didn't. Deep down he doesn't feel that he is worthy of Gweny." She was fixing the damage from their battle in the garden.

Gwen frowned at that. "How do you know that?" Jean had always been making statements like that but today it bothered her. Jean always presumed to know how someone felt or thought… then something dawned on Gwen.

*Is Jean a telepath?* She shouted from the confine of her own mind.

Jean flinched then, as though she'd heard something. Sighed heavily she said aloud to Gwen, "Well, surprise, I'm a telepath."

Jumping at the revelation, Gwen floated in the air with her unconscious boyfriend on her shoulder. "The fuck!"

Jessica intervened. "Language! What would Mrs E say?" Jessica poked Gwen between her breasts.

Looking rather sheepish, Gwen put a hand on her mouth. "Oh, sorry."

Still fixing everything, Jean spoke. "I'm sorry to have hidden it. But I don't tell everyone that I am a telepath for good reason. For example you are already evaluating all the conversations we had and whether I influenced you in any way." She didn't even have to look at Gwen to hold a conversation with her.

Gwen was indeed doing just that- remembering how they met, every time they spent time together, the sexual attraction she felt for Jean. "Huh… you wouldn't use your powers on me right?"

Jean stopped working, turning to Gwen and told her with sincerity. "Gwen, you are one of my best friends. I would never betray your trust that way, I don't use telepathy on my friends or family without their permission."

At that, Gwen released a sigh of relief. Then she perked up as something that was obvious struck her, it would explain everything. "So that's how Jessica knew you were alright!"

Jean smiled. "Yeah, when I escaped she was the first to know I was in Egypt."

Part of the plan needed to happen in Jean's so called base, she now knew the redhead could teleport or traverse great distances thanks to physics breaking powers. "That's where we are going, right? Your base there."

*Powers are bullshit.* Gwen thought.

"Yeah there's a story I need to tell you about how I came by it. But first we must go look for Elektra sensei, May and my mom." Jean said and turned away from her friend, she held her hand before her and a golden portal came into being near the tool shed in the garden. It gave a view into some kind of prison that Gwen found scary. She looked at Jean who looked rather serious as she was fixing Peter's house with her telekinesis.

Then she turned and entered the portal with apprehension. *I hope Peter will forgive me.*

**# # # **

**(May Parker)**

**Egypt Base  
December 18th, 1996  
08:02 PM (New York time)**

"May, I assure you that Peter is fine." The redhead explained for the second time.

May was having none of it, though. Gwen had told her how Jean came up with a plan to take down Peter. The older woman had figured out something was wrong with her nephew two months ago, his behavior steadily worsening. "But you are holding him in that prison and-"

"I respect the abilities of your son." Because yes at this point, Peter was her surrogate son. "Peter is a genius and I need those installations to hold him, but as you can see I provided accommodations to keep him comfortable as the influence of the symbiote is wearing off."

They were in the command center, and Jean pushed a button, the screen lighting up,showing Peter asleep on a king sized bed. The young man was stirring as well. He stood, blearily looking around him. Then, as if he flipped on a switch, Peter stood up and tried to exit the cell to bounce up on the forcefield. His palm covered his nose as he held on painfully, glared and began to punch on the forcefield with all his strength.

May looked at the redhead and shook her head in disgust. "May I think you need to go see him, maybe with Gwen before he hurts himself."

The older woman acquiesced at that, Jean stood up and invited May in following her. As they exited the room, May observed the girl, she was clearly different from before. Taller, older and with confidence bordering on arrogance. There was something hard and fiery about her, a feeling that this young woman was more than she seemed.

"Haha!"

May glanced behind, watching as Gwen flew to them, giggling when she landed on her feet. She was followed by Jessica who ran after her.

Jean turned and poked her with a finger. "Gwen no flying in the corridors!"

Gwen grinned at the redhead, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Sorry."

Sighing, the redhead put a fist on her hips."You don't look sorry…"

Gwen blushed and turned her head toward May, trying to ignore her friend. She took the older woman's hand in hers. "May, we're going to see Peter."

May nodded. "Yes, we need to get to the bottom of this."

Peter had told May how he'd gotten his powers when Gwen and the others forced him to do it. Since then his aunt had tried to stop him at first, not wanting him to get hurt, then she saw the good he did and thought that it may be an outlet to cope with Ben's death. However, when his friend- the redhead- was taken, he'd become more ruthless after Jean. Not to mention,he changed to an all black costume that didn't look heroic. Peter's reputation had taken a dip after the brutality he displayed was shown- the Daily Bugle was having a field day.

The blonde put on a brave smile. "We… we need to speak with him. May, I'm not gonna lie. But it's going to be bad, j-just don't cave-in to his demands, okay?"

"Think of him as an addict in detox, that's what the lingering influence of a symbiote is like." Jean added.

May stared at both the girls, noting their serious expressions. She nodded, but she thought deep down that she could get through her nephew. They took their time coming here, but five minutes later they were before a hatch door made of grey metal. Jean went to a keypad on the wall and typed a series of numbers.

The door opened with a hiss and the hatch doors parted. There was no one to wait for them in the receiving area with the mounted turret weapons on each side of the cell's entrance. May wanted to shrink at the sight but refrained, wanting to be strong for her nephew. They entered the cell block, looking around and finding the place rather utilitarian and creepy.

There were disused empty cells with traces of blood inside and other things. May pinched her nose, the tangible smell disgusting. Jean noticed and just waved her hand. With that, the smell disappeared with the blood and disgusting things inside each of the cells they passed. May found her power rather handy and reminded herself to contact Jean if she needed to have a place completely clean, she would bribe her with food, the girl was a glutton.

She smiled brightly when they finally arrived to Peter's cell, but frowned as she saw him attack the invisible barrier like a demented man. "Peter!"

Peter's face broke into a hopeful expression. He put the flat of his against the barrier and pleaded, "Aunt May! Please, help me get outta here!"

May who had promised to not give in succumbed to the pitiful state of her nephew, turned to Jean and asked, "Jean can you…"

She was met with an instant refusal."That's out of the question."

Peter's mood shifted to rage again, and he punched on the forcefield and shouted, "You bitch! Let me out!"

May would never forget what happened next. Jean simply caught fire, no it was like she was fire incarnate. The other girls took May and stepped back from Jean who looked at Peter with a predatory grin. "**Hey, Pete. Still wanna fight?"**

He said nothing, simply looking overwhelmed by the changing form of the girl before him. He calmed down, his instincts without a doubt telling him that he wasn't her match. May was a tad scared herself, and when she looked around, she could tell the other girls were too.

The flame slowly dissipated, returning inside Jean's body. "That's what I thought, so… why don't you calm down and take a seat?"

From the ground in his cell, Peter watched as a chair was being grown from the stone ground. His gaze moved from Jean to the chair. Then he released a sigh and sat on it.

"Good." Jean nodded her approval, then continued, arms crossed = under her breasts, "Peter, I know you don't like me and that I'm the wrong person to tell you what to do. But the path you are taking will lead you to being alone and despised. Before it's too late you should confide in your aunt, you cannot live like this for long."

A frown played on Peter's lips. "What are you talking about?"

Jean exhaled in frustration, and she turned to May, looking at her with a meaningful gaze; then the redhead turned to Peter. "It all comes down to Ben Parker and how you think it's your fault that he died."

Peter stood up from the stone chair as if struck by a mighty blow. Jean shook her head and stepped back, as May walked up in front of the forcefield. Her eyes blurred with tears, "Peter, really, that's what you think?"

May was beginning to understand what was happening- this wasn't just keeping Peter safe after what happened with the symbiote but an _intervention _for him.

"I-I…" Peter was torn, looking between May and the other girls present.

Jean understood and coughed loudly, catching May;s attention."I think we should leave and give Peter and May some space, girls."

Jessica stared into Jean's eyes, seeing she was serious. "Huh, yeah you might be right."

It was Gwen that was reluctant. "But Jean, I…"

"Gwen?" May called out.

A subtle message between the older woman and Peter's girlfriend was sent out. Gwen sighed and understood that it wasn't her place to come into their family matter. "Okay, yeah, let's leave them alone."

The three girls left, deciding to wait at the entrance of the cell block. May turned to her nephew and said, "There Peter, you can speak now. You clearly have something on your heart."

Tears slowly flowed from Peter's eyes. "It's my fault, it's my fault aunt May."

May wanted to go in this cell and hug her nephew upon seeing his tears."Peter?"

She had thought that Peter was strong before, and he was, but now he looked brittle. Jean was right- there was something eating at him.

"The man... who killed uncle Ben? I let him go, I had my powers at that time... but I let him go to get back at the man who cheated me out of my money."

Mays rose her hand. "Peter, stop." He did, watching his aunt massage her temples with a migraine incoming. Then she looked at him. "Go back to the start."

The young man nodded and his confession came unbidden; he had participated in a cash prize fight to buy a car to impress Mary Jane Watson, their neighbor's daughter. May remembered how smitten he had been with the girl and nodded to Peter who continued to speak. "I won the fight thanks to my powers. I beat the guy in one minute."

Then the organizer didn't pay the promised money to Peter, barely giving him one hundred dollars and telling him to get out. Peter left, and waited for the elevator to take him down to the building's lobby. Then he heard a scuffle and a man ran from the office he had just left with a bag seemingly full of money. The organizer called for security to stop the thief. Peter didn't do anything, wanting revenge for being cheated out of his money.

Peter forgot the incident but days later he returned home late to find his Uncle Ben murdered. Learning the police had the burglar responsible holed up in a warehouse, Peter changed into Spider-Man and easily captured him, only to discover he was the same thief he had allowed to escape earlier.

"Oh Peter…" May sobbed at this revelation. She couldn't say anything. A part of her wanted to blame Peter and another wanted to tell him that it wasn't his fault, because really? It wasn't. He was young and foolish but it wasn't Peter's job to stop crime at the time.

"I'm sorry aunt May, I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt you, I didn't mean for Uncle to die… I-" Peter sounded so pitiful, it broke May's heart.

May wiped away her tears, needing to be strong for her nephew. "Peter, can you do something for me?"

Still with tears in his eyes, Peter spoke in a little voice, his eyes cast downward. "Anything, aunt May, anything."

"Peter look at me, please." May asked with a commanding tone in her voice.

Lifting his face to hers, Peter looked at his aunt. There was sadness on her face, bit no hatred or betrayal like he believed he'd find there.

May smiled. "You need to forgive yourself, everything is clear to me now... you have been killing yourself trying to do good. Peter… Uncle Ben meant the world to us. He wouldn't want us living one second with guilt or _what ifs_ in our hearts, though. That guilt you feel? It's like poison. It can - It can take you over. Before you know it, turn you into something ugly."

May now understood that her nephew was a broken boy- a broken boy who was putting too much on his plate out of loyalty and guilt to a dead man. "So, you must forgive yourself. I believe in you, Peter. You're a good person. I know you'll find a way to make it right."

May put a hand on the forcefield, Peter followed suit. "In time."

She, herself, needed time too, as she was reeling from the revelations that Peter had dumped on her. She needed a drink and she knew where to get one. She left, leaving Peter to his own thoughts.

**# # #**

**Back with Jean…**

**2 hours later**

I didn't know what to think, and I didn't know that a little woman like May could drink this much. We were sitting at the bar in the kitchen, and Chimera kept refilling May's glass with vodka. May looked torched. She was at her fifth glass, Jean looked at Chimera who found the vodka bottle almost empty.

"I think she had enough." Chimera took the bottle and corked it.

"Yeah, I think so too." She nodded and took the glass from May's hand.

The older brunette clothed in a beige colored pantsuit tried to struggle. "No, I… I am good, this can't…"

I didn't want to hear anymore from May; she was drunk, she smelled drunk and her thoughts were muddled. She felt guilty of wanting to blame her adoptive son for the death of the love of her life. Guilty of not having seen the signs of Peter's spiral of self-destruction.

The Parkers were a pretty stubborn lot and I could now see where Peter got it from. "May, you'll find no answer in the depths of this bottle. Go to sleep." I pushed a feeling of somnolence in her mind.

May's body relaxed then she fell asleep. I caught her body and lifted her. Chimera exited the kitchen first and I followed her. We walked toward the dormitories, crossing paths with Arclight and Regan who returned from their training in the gym. I waved at them and they did the same but hurriedly left.

I shrugged. *They still haven't got over it…* Once in Chimera's room I put May in the bed, fortunately, it was a queen sized one. "Hey, take good care of her, I got to go see Peter."

Chimera stared at May's sleeping form. "Will he be alive when you leave, boss?" The question indicated her fondness for May.

Turning to her, I shrugged. "Depends on what he says."

Chimera had seen the boy's attitude toward me in a telepathic vision that we shared in my mindscape. She didn't seem encouraged by my words at all; we were more than antagonistic toward each other. I didn't know why Peter thought I was the devil or something.

"Well, good luck." The statuesque woman offered, stripping off her clothes.

I admired her for a moment, however, she wasn't my type. I don't know why, it seemed that I was attracted to women who I had a connection with. There was no chemistry there. "You too Chimera, I hope for you she's not too cuddly in bed." I smirked, looking over at May.

"Ah!" Chimera laughed me off, but I knew May was a cuddler.

The reason I left May with Chimera was that I didn't want to leave her alone; she didn't know the map of the base and it was a big one. I directly teleported to the cell block and walked up to Pete's accommodations. She stopped before Peter's cell and she saw him sitting on the ceiling hugging his legs.

"Peter." I called out, he looked at me then he fell down and landed on his feet after a feat of agility.

"Grey." Peter greeted through clenched teeth.

The young man oozed hatred and other dark emotions.

I chuckled. "Aww, why are you so... impersonal suddenly?" He never called me Jean even once. It seemed this guy, when he hated someone, the hatred would last forever. I wanted to bury the hatchet right now, though, but was he smart enough to see my intentions?

His hatred dissipated to let place to the suffering he was feeling. He wanted his symbiote back really badly. "Why are you doing this?"

I sighed, because this was it. The moment of truth. "Peter, I told you my intentions since the start. The world needs a sane and **smart **spiderman."

Peter laughed at me then he shook his head. "No, you hate me, you want to…"

I interrupted him mid rant. "Peter? The first time I tried to talk to you, you were quite unfriendly, rude even. And this has colored all our interactions. But I don't hate you, Peter. What I hate, is the emo little shit that you _currently _are."

Yes, compared to 616 Spiderman, my Peter was a wimp. Why couldn't have I met the cute and shy Peter from the MCU? He would have been awesome to work with! Peter glared at me, flipping me the bird. "Fuck you, Grey." I felt the hatred flow through him again, he is lucky that I am not a Sith.

I laughed. "Don't be a hater, I like what you do, it's just too bad that you let the costumed life consume you. Why don't you live a little?"

Disbelief was all over his face as he watched me. "What? You kept denigrating my actions after revealing to everyone that I am spiderman. How can you say this now?"

"Huh, well I can't deny that I was a _tad _insensitive... but I really like the 'great power means great responsibilities' thing that you have going on. But you interpreted the will of a dying man quite badly. I am sure that your uncle wouldn't have liked for you to feel like shit every night for _patrolling_; even I didn't do it as much as you."

Peter snickered, making a move to sit on his rock chair, smiling. "You? You are no hero, Grey."

I nodded at that. I always knew that I wasn't a hero. I was more of a Punisher. A dark knight. "No I am not, not by your definition. But I did lessen your burden."

I killed most of the hardcore gangs and organized crime in our little slice of New York. But the fact that he was spitting on my efforts made me want to show him. "You know what Peter, I'm going to show you what your life would have been like had I not been around."

Teleporting into the cell, I touched Peter's forehead and brought him instantly into my mindscape. I sat him in front of my tv screen in the representation of my living room and warned,"Better brace yourself, this is gonna be rough."

"What?! Where?!" Peter looked around him, seeing a foreign living room. He was chained to the sofa and a tight chain of light tied him up all over, I didn't want him to miss everything by wandering in here.

"We are in my head, Peter. Phoenix, a little help?" I called out.

A flaming bird the size of a person came into being next to the sofa. **(Certainly. Hey, hi Pete.)** Phoenix raised a wing to greet Peter, and once again I felt there was something I was missing.

Peter stared at me and Phoenix as if that situation was completely crazy. "Who's the big bird?"

"Oh, that's Me. Now shush, let's go see the life of Peter Parker of Earth 616." I waved my hand and the TV screen swallowed us.

I showed him the way his uncle died. Peter and I were in his house, in another universe. A different looking Peter was holding the hand of his uncle, and looked as life was draining from the man. Then we jumped forward as we saw his first fight against Spot, he won, but he missed an important meeting with his aunt. Aunt May is older in this universe.

The enemies revealed themselves each after the others, Fisk, Kraven the Hunter, Electro, Vulture, Venom. I stopped on the last one and let Peter take in what happened to this other Peter who had found the strength to separate from Venom but a corrupt reporter named Eddie Brock took it and began to make Peter's life hell.

"Do you see?" I waved at the monstrosities that Venom became and at the different scenes that made people Peter love give him a wide berth after the Symbiote obsessed over him.

Peter has become more subdued, thinking- really thinking. "Why is Venom so different from your symbiote?"

Teaching mode on! "Symbiote are not things, they are people. With feelings and emotions." I then began to tell him what they were. They were created by a primordial deity called Knull to slaughter other gods called the Celestials and conquer everything.

But after that terrible being was sealed, ashamed of their dark origins, the symbiotes of Klyntar invented and perpetuated a lie that their species was naturally benevolent. Endeavouring to spread peace throughout the universe, the Klyntar symbiotes established a hive mind capable of sensing the "voice" of the Cosmos and created an intergalactic peacekeeping society called the Agents of the Cosmos by using the symbiosis they needed to subsist in order to transform "worthy" hosts into the ultimate noble warriors.

However, to achieve this "perfect" symbiosis, the host needed to have a perfect blend of moral and physical ideals. If not, the resulting symbiosis would corrupt both the Klyntar and its host.

"And that's why I cannot let you have the Venom Symbiote, corrupted symbiotes have ravenous predatory appetites for the flesh of other life-forms and will influence or force their hosts to commit cannibalism to satiate this. You don't want this to happen to you, right?"

Peter shook his head, his face tinged green as he watched a scene from the Planet of the Symbiotes timeline. Humans were being eaten by Symbiotes with hosts. I continued to placate him. "Goldie didn't end up like this because I can feel her with my mind, so I treated her like a child, and taught her how to differentiate between bad and good."

I was still watching a scene when I noticed that Peter was paying me attention. "You are a telepath."

I nodded, knowing it was useless to lie at this point. "I am more than that, I am the Phoenix. Well, at least a part of it. I will tell you what that means once you break out of your funk."

Peter still had that weird glint in his eyes as he stared at me. "Grey, can I ask you something?"

The scene where Peter was battling Eddie Brock paused. I didn't do it, Phoenix paused the stream without my say so. What was she playing at? "Yes, but there's no guarantee I will answer." I told him absently.

"Did you kill Norman and Harry Osborn?" It was asked so calmly that I almost missed the feeling of trepidation and fear emanating from him.

I turned my head toward him, looking into his eyes. He flinched, but I didn't know what he'd seen to provoke that sliver of fear from him."Yes I did, Peter."

As he was bound, Peter couldn't move his astral body. But he reacted violently and asked, "Why? Why would you do that?!"

"Do you really want to know?" He didn't want to know, I told myself, because this would break him.

Peter looked incensed. "Yes! Since I saw you with that Talia woman after the Osborn's death I had my suspicions… but now? I ask myself why would you do that, the guy liked you!"

Eww, being liked by Harry Osborn was one of my biggest nightmares. I sighed and decided to show him since had had asked for it. "Ok."

The scene with Venom battling Spiderman was replaced by one with the Green Goblin, Norman Osborn. He had kidnapped Gwen and her parents. Spider-Man found them at the George Washington Bridge, where they fought and Gwen fell from the bridge. She died when Spider-Man reached her with a web-line, breaking her neck. The Goblin escaped. A furious Peter searched, found and battled him again. In this battle Norman was impaled with his own Goblin Glider, apparently killing himself.

Peter from Earth 616 was extremely distraught over the death of Gwen, possibly even more so than when Uncle Ben died. I ended the scene there, not wanting to show him how Mary Jane Watson wormed her way into his heart.

"Norman… he…" Peter trailed off, at a loss for words because of his shock.I gave Peter the cliff notes of why I killed Norman and Harry. I opened my hand. "He became your greatest enemy. He killed Gwen, one of MY BEST FRIENDS." My hands clenched, knuckles white. "I would kill him again if I could, directly this time. Harry would eventually follow the footsteps of his father and try to kill you."

Peter's eyes gleamed with unshed tears. "But… Norman… he didn't do it, this is a vision right… a fake, right?" He sobbed.

Phoenix took umbrage at that and her form rippled into the mindscape. **(No, Peter. All of this is true. Don't be in denial, I am the Phoenix. I can manipulate the past, the present and the future across large temporal distances.)**

I nodded. "This is what your life would have been like if I didn't do what I did. I killed Harry and Norman for my friend and collaterally for you. Now I pass you the torch, you should be able to pick yourself up and protect May, Gweny and everyone."

My words were meant to be inspiring and make him find a new purpose but they fell flat when Peter asked, "What are you?"

_Sigh_. "Peter, I am not from this world originally. Think of myself as a reincarnated being who has a lot of meta-knowledge."

**(And this is a wrap.)** Phoenix said as she batted Peter away from my mindscape with a wing.

This was shocking, seeing it being done to someone else was something else. "Phoenix, why did you send him back?"

My abstract double looked annoyed with me. **(You silly Jean, don't tell the guy who doesn't like you such things. I took the knowledge of your otherworldly origins from his mind. Though you are on the cusp on making him change. You know you chipped away at the enemies who would have made him the amazing Spider-Man, right? This Peter needs to go on another path. Different from the main timeline's one. For this you'll have to do something drastic, Jean.)**

My mind froze at that, there was only one thing that would make Peter react like she hoped. *Oh Freya! Is she thinking what I am thinking?*

There was a tense silence for a bit of time, I leaned on the sofa and exhaled a tense breath."We are bringing him back aren't we?"

**(Yes, he is the only one who will make Peter see sense.)**

With that thought in mind, I exited my mindscape, seeing Peter's hand nearing me as though he was about to touch me. I stopped him with a thought. "Nuhu you don't touch me, mister."

I teleported outside the cell and released him again from the TK grip I had on him. It was time to go look for the big guns. I waved goodbye to Pete who glared at me, he returned to his bed- either to sleep or think about everything I'd shown him. I opened a portal to Samira's office. I found her there at her desk waiting for me.

She shot me a vulpine smile, holding a beige folder in her hand...

"Fucking precog." I whispered.

Samira's smile tightened, aware of how unsettling her ability was to me. "I have everything for you, the name of the cemetery and the tomb's number."

I sighed and calmed down. "Thank you." I told her, the woman looked fine at first glance but she seemed completely tired. "I need to get you something nice, you work a lot..."

It seemed Samira had been waiting for those words and showed me a brochure with a spa on it. Telling me that she was already thinking about taking a break. "You could actually help me, your friend Frank Castle is becoming a **pain…**"

She let me enter her mind, showing me all that the man had been doing- raids, burning down drug supply chains, murders… no, it was better to call it the extermination of the Irish and Mexican cartels in the big apple. I thought I had convinced Frank of staying with his family, but it seemed that vengeance boiled in his blood.

I facepalmed myself. "I will help you after-"

Samira interrupted me again. "You'll be free in four days, I could really have your help at that time."

I shook my head. "Done!"

Samira laughed at me and gave me the folder and I teleported back to my base with the sound of her laugh in my ears.

**# # #**

**(Phoenix)**

**The Realm of Death**

The decorations weren't really my style. I mean who would let the portal to their house be a big skull with a spatial portal reeking of death? Lady Death of course. I hoped her sense of fashion would be a bit better but I wasn't holding my breath. I passed through the death portal and wasn't surprised to find a macabre scenery awaiting me.

There were countless skeletons and undead creatures facing me. It was creepy, but excitement fluttered through becoming one with the Phoenix force I'd been to extraordinary places and saw countless civilizations rise and fall. Time had no meaning to me, but it had become lonely and one of my only joys is to see my family and spouses through my Earthly Avatar's eyes, they were my anchors to this time period and I would keep them.

The undead and dead things stopped moving and as if ordered to, and they all separated like they were the red sea. Behind them was a desolate landscape with volcanoes and rivers of lava. Far in the horizon was a pitch black tower touching the pseudo sky of the Death Realm.

I levitated and with a thought I found myself at the foot of the tower. It was all smooth stones and bones, there was no logic to it as it seemed to be a four dimensional construct. To my vision the space inside this tower spanned galaxies. Normally, all building constructions are considered only in terms of three dimensions: width, height and depth. The fourth dimension is time.

Four dimensional building was simply the ability to create different buildings in the same space. With the power to warp reality at my fingertips I could do it, I shouldn't have been surprised that Lady Death was able to do the same.

The gates opened for me as I returned to my humanoid form, and I was quickly admitted inside the higher levels. I found myself in a throne room, there was no ground or sky, we were into space and under us there was nothing that could explain what I was seeing. It was an amalgamation of every death realm from religions of multiple alien species, even the human ones were represented, I also recognized Hel, the Asgardian realm of death.

"There is beauty in death." I didn't understand why these words left me but I meant them. "Thank you, Phoenix." A melodious female voice rang in the throne room.

Lifting my head I watched as a cloaked figure was sitting on a huge throne of bones and she was behind a desk of black obsidian like glass in the form of a half circle. "Lady Death."

I noticed the towering stacks of paper appearing from nowhere and flying to form more and more paper stacks. Death was busy, as she was a responsible entity that didn't shirk her duties. Death embodied decay and destruction, like I embodied life that has not yet been born, as well as the forces of creation and destruction. We had overlapping domains.

The black cloak of Lady Death lifted, revealing a skull face that stared at me. Inside its socket I could see glowing purple light. "Why have you come? It's rare for you to come bless my halls."

My fire burned brighter as I pointed a finger at her. "I am in need of your service, a pet project of mine to help stave off stagnation. It will bring death and life to the cosmos."

Yes, my other self, Jean, had a lot of plans concerning her little slice of the universe. I couldn't help her too much, but I could nudge things in her way to make a better future. Maybe, just maybe, it would help me in the maintenance of the M'Kraan Crystal. I needed to get it out of the Shi'ar empire's custody. I lowered my flaming hand and waited for Lady Death's answer.

It was an eternity later when the other Abstract did so. "You have my interest."

I had her! I levitated to her desk and peered at her, noticing that the cloak was definitely old and unsanitary. "But first could you change your appearance? It has become unsettling to speak to a skeleton. Dear, you need to live a little, and lose the cloak.."

Lady Death moved in a way that made me think she had smiled at me with an eyebrow raised. Then as she covered herself in a dark aura, her skeleton covered itself in flesh and hair into a perfect copy of myself with pale skin and black hair. "Is this better?" She asked with what I believe is a posh accent, somewhat British sounding.

I nodded. "Well… better than a skeleton… though my body with black hair doesn't do it. I will let you meet my avatar later for a regular form and new fashion. Interested?"

Death looked down at herself, then moved her gaze to my outfit- a modified Phoenix costume with a jacket over it. "I may have to refresh my almanac of appearances, yes. You have changed."

I laughed. "For the better?"

Death shrugged. "We shall see."

Pleasantries aside, it was time to talk business. "I have come to obtain the soul of Benjamin Parker."

Death closed her eyes and raised her hands. A sheet of paper appeared in her hand. Her eyebrows raised as she read it and after a few beats she finally looked at me. "That is one of the precious souls to inspire heroes, a shatterpoint to the fate of another."

I pressed a fisted hand against my hip, looking into Death's eyes. "Yes, I want him to do more inspiring."

Lady Death shook her head and leaned in her throne. "That is normally against the rules. But I am interested in your project… but it will still be difficult."

I crossed my arms, my lips quirking into a taunting smile. "I am not asking for it for free. A favor or two can be exchanged, I see that your paperwork hasn't diminished at all. Is it because of a certain Titan?"

The atmosphere grew colder around Lady Death, ice visibly spreading on her desk. It appeared I was spot on- that fool Thanos was irritating her. Lady Death rolled her eyes. "That being has become rather impossible as of late."

I lifted my chin, pride filling me that I was right; she wanted to be rid of the Titanian and asked with a smile in my voice, "Do you wish him gone?"

The abstract entity watched me for a long moment before answering. "It would help, but you cannot kill him. It would bring him to this realm and there's nothing more than he would like." Her tone was almost plaintive.

If I was in her place, I would have killed the bastard long ago. I don't know what is stopping her. I sat on her desk, taking care not to burn any of the paper towers. "Don't you worry, just erasing him from existence body and soul should do it. Is there anything else that you wish for?"

Death became more animated at the prospect of her stalker leaving her alone. A booklet appeared in her hand that she placed on the desk, then slid it toward me. I picked it up, looking through the was full of names and data pertaining to them.

Looking at me, Lady Death had a little smile on her lips. "A list of people who defy me. Bring me their souls."

I nodded, this was a job for Jean. Finally, she was going to be put to work. **"I accept the bargain, Lady Death."**

With the sound of bell ringing, the cosmic forces that we represented signaled the acceptance of our deal.

Death wore a look of satisfaction." I shall let the soul of this Benjamin Parker return to life when your avatar resurrects him."

It was now time for more pleasantries. "An excellent time to see if she can help you with your appearance." I pointed out.

My counterpart nodded. "You should come more often, I lack distractions, resting and socializing is good for the mind."

A laugh burst out of me, then suddenly an idea came to me. "I have a play date with Gaea and Bast, I'll invite you too."

A smile tugged at Death's lips. "Excellent."

**# # #**

**Back with Jean…  
St. John Cemetery  
11:02 PM**

St. John Cemetery was an official Roman Catholic burial ground located in Middle Village in Queens, a borough of New York City. Although it was mainly located in Middle Village, the southern edge of the cemetery ran along Cooper Avenue in Glendale. This was where Ben had been buried.

Cemeteries were creepy in the daytime, but even more so at night; I could feel _things _watching me. I was aware that the supernatural existed in this reality; werewolves, vampires, leprechauns, I had even seen signs of this in my brief stint in the UK. It kept me on guard,I could feel their minds, and their feelings. Some were curious, some angry, others hungry. However, some instincts made them feel that they were all prey to me and didn't show.

*I think there were some vampires here, they weren't like the vampires from the Dracula movie, I needed to know how to fight them besides using silver, decapitation and fire.* I thought as I landed before Benjamin Parker's tomb.

"Hello, Ben. I am sorry that I have to take you away from your well deserved rest. I hope you'll forgive me for this." I prayed to Hela for a moment and asked for forgiveness, the Asgardian Pantheon was the only one I liked anyway.

I stared down at the ground, pushing my awareness into it until I reached for the coffin. With a thought, I dug the ground and raised it into the air. It was a rectangle of earth and dust, then I lifted the coffin and landed it on the right and placed the earth back. There were signs of depression and it made me level up the ground and smooth it out. With a bit of my phoenix powers, I made the grass and the bush of red flowers grow.

"Should be enough, it's nice too." I wiped my hand, then absently made the coffin float.

Opening a portal, I quickly made the coffin pass through it and did the same. I found myself in the laboratory that could also be used as a hospital room. With TK, I began to prepare the medical bed and table and placed the instrument at its side. My eyes turned to the coffin and the enormity of what I was about to do weighed heavily onto me.

Did I have a right to disturb the life of May and Peter this way? Even if I had their happiness in mind, and didn't want them to suffer so much? I had all this power coursing through me, but I also had the will to see through to what I caused. It's my fault if the symbiote escaped and destroyed Peter's life in a sense. He had to confess the truth to May…

With great power there must also come great responsibility. I liked this quote, everyone attributed it coming from Ben Parker and Spidey, but an untold number of great men and women used it, such as Voltaire, Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt. "With great power comes great responsibility" in my opinion the meaning of it was simple; if you have the ability to do something, make sure that you do it for the good of others. But you shouldn't stop living or neglecting everything for this simple expression.

Peter was odd that way, obsessing over it. You don't have to be a superhero to follow those words of geek wisdom. It was possible to do small actions that have a big impact in the world. I would take this little quote and do what I can, but I'd never stop myself from enjoying life.

Though, I had to be careful as I needed to take care of all that power so I wasn't corrupted by it. I didn't want to become like Ross or Osborn. A lot of people believed that, once they have some form of power, they could usually lord it over people and abuse it. History had a lot of people showing them becoming corrupted because of great power: Napoleon and Hitler are just a couple to name a few. Even on a small scale, we did see powerful people beat down on the weaker ones. Bullies, abusive spouses, and corrupt politicians are just a few examples of the kinds of people we see everyday that use their power the wrong way.

But today? I stood straight and, with a gleam of determination in my eyes, I decided that I was going to do a good deed! I would bring back Ben Parker. I floated up and allowed my own power and the Phoenix force to fill my body. The coffin burned up and I let the resurrection force do its job; with it, I could theoretically resurrect anyone I wished with my near infinite powers, as I was the embodiment of life and death itself.

My power seized the decomposed body and I don't know what I hoped to see, but it just burned and formed a cocoon of fire. It was fascinating. *Was this how I had my own rebirth?*

I was surprised to find a dark portal opening in the ceiling, a dark form silently landed on the ground. "Who are you?"

I blinked and suddenly in place of a cloaked figure was Lady Death from Coffin Comics. The only difference was her hair was black. She was gorgeous and now I understood why Evil Ernie listened to her. I quickly killed that thread of thought, though.

"You already know." Her ruby red lips parted into a grin, and she flipped her luxurious hair back.

Now I understood- she was simply the fundamental force of Death given form, the abstract who was a counterpart of the Phoenix Force. "Oh, you are that **Death… **hmm, are you sure that you want to look like that?" I asked because she was certainly distracting to look at.

The abstract entity looked at herself, held onto her shiny black cloak and turned on herself. *Damn, she's fine.* I couldn't help that thought.

"Is there a problem? I find it quite fetching." Her outfit was all black, consisting of underwear, gloves and thigh high boots and a cloak.

I couldn't help myself from watching and blushed. "No, it's just that anyone seeing you won't stop getting lewd thoughts."

Lady Death tilted her head, her long locks falling on her delicate shoulder. "They can think whatever they want." Her dry tone brooked no argument.

I gulped and chuckled at her tone. "I like your Moxxi. Hm, what brings you here, Milady?"

*Don't pick a fight, she can kill me with a thought.* I told myself.

Lady Death looked at me, gauging my worth. "Phoenix entered in a bargain with me."

This revelation rang like thunder into my mind. "Oh… she's going to give me work isn't she?" Fuck, I thought I had more time!

She nodded. "You are a smart avatar. Here, the soul of Benjamin Parker." Death pushed a ball of light into the cocoon.

She clapped and the same black spatial portal opened in the ceiling. "My work is done." She told me, then added, "I feel that we will see each other again."

I hoped not, but I stayed polite. "Huh… bye?"

"Farewell." And she got sucked into the black swirl of energy.

Well that happened, I looked at the cocoon and saw that it was about to crack. The procedure was almost done.

**# # #**

**(Ben Parker)**

**Time ?  
Place ?**

Ben Parker's eyes opened. His head felt heavier than lead. He was naked and on a soft surface was surely a bed. He heard the electronic beep of machines linked to him through wires. The ceiling was vaulted as if he was into some cavern. He had expected the ceiling to be white and made of plaster.

He was in a room with medical implements and some tools he didn't know. The four walls were covered in blackboard with formula on them. The metallic door suddenly burst open.

"Good morning, Mr Parker." A feminine voice rang from the door

The older man bolted upright. He looked on as an extremely attractive redhead in a white lab coat and approached him. He looked more attentively and realized that she was maybe two year older than his nephew Peter…

It was as if lightning had struck him, Ben began to rip the cable linking him to the machine. "Peter?! Where is… my nephew? My wife? I died, I remember being shot."

The young woman walked up to him and tried to get him to stay on the bed. "Ben, please calm down. You are alive and healthy, you notice that there isn't any bullet wound on your body, right?"

Ben stayed upright, still seated on the bed as he looked down at himself. There were no wounds… he felt himself feeling good, better than he had in years in fact, as if he was in his thirties again. "Huh, color me surprised."

A beautiful smile blossomed on the young woman's face, distracting the older man. "Ben, I am a friend of your nephew and your wife, May." She revealed.

"Where are they? Are they alright? Did the burglar get them? And I am sorry to say this but you are rather young to be a doctor…" Ben fired questions at Jean, like he was a machine gun.

The young redhead sighed and put a hand on Ben's shoulder. "I am not a doctor, at least not _yet_. You are in my mountain base in Egypt, and I won't sugarcoat it for you, it would do you a disservice. But, Ben... you died eight months ago and I brought you back to life."

There was a tense silence before Ben laughed at her. "Young lady, I didn't know we were in an asylum…"

"My name is Jean Grey." She told him as her entire body lit on fire and she began to float up from the ground.

Ben was out of bed faster than Speedy Gonzales, looking on in fear as the young lady hovered over his bed. "I assure you, Ben, that I am able to do what I claim."

Ben raised his hand in surrender, fearing for his life. "Okay, girl I am convinced." The fiery avatar of life suddenly disappeared and the smiling redhead knockout was back, straightening her hair as she looked at him sheepishly. "Sorry about that outburst, but you Parker men are really stubborn." Jean pouted and crossed her arms under her breast.

This broke the tension and Ben began to laugh at that. "Oh god almighty, you really did meet Peter."

Jean seemed to be feeling awkward for a moment and it was then that l Ben began to become suspicious that something was amiss. "Yes… hmm, you see, he is in trouble. That's why I brought you back Mr Parker, I want you to save your surrogate son's life."

*It must be really grave if this girl had to bring me back from the dead.* Ben thought, his headache becoming stronger. He massaged his temple. "What happened?"

"Well, I will start from the beginning, after your death, Peter has become a superhero..." And Jean related everything that had happened to Ben.

About Peter becoming spiderman, the intense and destructive guilt Peter was feeling at thinking he had killed him indirectly. How he had become introverted and all his friends being girls. Ben chuckled at that, and smiled proudly when he discovered that his nephew was dating Gwen Stacy, though he thought that he was trying to woo Mary Jane Watson at the time of his death. After finding an alien amorphous lifeform called Klyntar, Peter became corrupted by it, his friends helped take care of the symbiote and now Peter was in a form of detox, and imprisoned in this base.

Ben looked at Jean as if she was high and needed help. "This tale was like out of a comic book or a…"

"Movie?" Jean continued his thought. Her shoulder sagged as she looked at the man. "Don't I know it? Since getting superpowers my life has become crazy."

Ben shook his head. He needed to see his family; May and Peter didn't seem to be doing well without him. "Okay I need to meet my wife and…"

"Hum, Mr Parker?" Jean interrupted Ben's train of thought.

"Yes, dearie?" Ben asked, thinking to himself how he really needed to thank the girl for what she did.

Jean was red like a tomato as she looked at him. "Maybe you should put on some pants first?"

Ben looked at his naked body, then at the girl, red as her mane of hair, and began laughing.

**# # #**

**Back with Jean  
Egypt Base  
December 19th, 1996  
07:30 AM (Egypt time)**

I got Ben some blue pants and a short sleeved white shirt, a belt and boots. The man hadn't noticed but right now he was rejuvenated- he was clearly in his late twenty, a side effect of the Phoenix rebirth process. I hoped that May recognized her husband. I think I'd need to juice her up too with Phoenix rebirth, to go back to her youth.

*Hmm, it should fix any infertility problem they have too.* A smile played on my lips. It was almost time to go for breakfast, but first I needed to go look for Chimera and May. I needed to give May the news about her husband. Ben followed me through the base, looking around him like a tourist. There was nothing to see in the corridor connecting the caverns and levels.

"You know Jean, it's kind of incredible that you own your own James Bond villain lair at such a young age… how did you come by it?" Peter's uncle gushed. As we passed the kitchen, Hans was preparing breakfast. I waved at him with a smile that he returned.

Absently I answered him as we walked to the dormitories. "I killed the previous owner who had kidnapped me to brainwash me into becoming his minion and using me as a broodmare to make an army of powered people like me."

Ben stayed silent for a moment, then mumbled, "I shouldn't have asked…" He didn't quite feel fear toward me but sadness at what I was forced to do.

"You have a right to know, ask away but I just don't promise to answer." I told him, but I felt reluctance growing in him. I stopped walking and turned to him.

He stopped too, waved his hand no and said, "No thank you, I am good."

I laughed. "Chicken." He wasn't one though, he was just being respectful of my experience. I didn't like the thread of pity he felt toward me.

"I am just not used to the fact that someone so young has killed before. It was fine in the second World War, or for Vietnam but you kids should live your life freely. But it seems that people are unable to change and thrive more through strife."

Ben is rather wise- I could see why Peter thought the world of the guy. "Oh, believe me, I am not comfortable with what I had to do… but I have to move on from the experience." Despite me, my hands shook again as I remembered getting killed by a smiling Sinister. I tightened my hands into fists at that, I couldn't believe that I had forgotten that he cloned himself. I was so focused on him that I underestimated him and his telepathic camouflage and got killed by a clone of his.

I felt a hand on my forearm. When I lifted my head, I saw the concerned face of Ben Parker. "Are you okay, dearie? You don't look so good to me."

I wanted to lie, but my heart wasn't into it. "No, I am not…" And that was all I could say about it as I shielded myself again and put on the mask I was so used to wearing since my rebirth.

Ben didn't release me, radiating an unexpected emotion, protectiveness. "If you ever want to talk about it, I am here. I owe you Jean, you brought me back to my family."

Men were incredible creatures, able to forget how powerful a woman was and wanted to protect them, it was such a double edged evolutionary instinct in my opinion. I thought about his offer and… determined that opening to someone at this point might be a good idea.

I didn't take this decision lightly; I could literally feel the goodness coming from Ben, he could be trusted and that was a good thing to me. "I may have to take you on your offer, maybe later?"

Ben smiled and shrugged. "Fine with me." He said, yet I still saw how he looked at me- like I was made of glass.

Meanwhile, we finally arrived before Chimera's door, neither May, nor my subordinate were awake. I could feel their quiescent minds working into reorganizing their memories. "They are still asleep." Chimera stirred as she seemed to feel my presence. I should test one day how people react to my presence- was I letting some type of field that made people afraid of me? I closed my eyes and… Fair enough there's something. It seems that I was being distracted and didn't notice that mild fear aura. I stopped and felt the minds around me feel relief.

*Hmm… there's potential with that. I might call it the Dark Knight field. So, if there's a fear aura maybe there's the reverse? Something like a White Knight one, similar to Captain America. I will test that out later.* Instead of knocking on the door first, I took the easy route.

**Chimera.** I contacted my subordinate

**Just one minute…** She answered automatically but I could feel that she was still half asleep.

**Chimera!** I shouted to her surface mind.

Behind the door I could hear someone cursing and shuffling things in the room. Footsteps neared and suddenly the door opened. Chimera wore a loose t-shirt and a short, she didn't even register the presence of Ben. "Boss, it's barely..." She looked at her wristwatch. "seven o'clock…" The blonde beauty complained.

It pained me to bother her but this was important. "I'm sorry, it's just that I got someone to introduce to May." I put a hand on Ben's shoulder, he seemed to try really hard to not let his eyes focus on the lithe blonde's consequent bust.

Chimera's eyes suddenly focused on Ben, and she felt the same thing as me. She tauntingly thrust her breasts up and asked, "Who is the cutie?"

I rolled my eyes at her act. "That's May's **husband**, I brought him back to life."

As if doused in cold water, Chimera stepped back, staring at me with skepticism. "Did you clone him?"

I know where she was going with this, shaking my head I said, "No, I used my resurrection ability to bring him back to life. It was costly but it's worth it for May and Peter."

Chimera was aware that I had bullshit abilities with my Phoenix powers, but she decided to not even contradict me. She shook her head, imagining that I was beating up logic in a dark room for fun. "Only you boss, that kind of thing has been happening too much since I know you..." Chimera chuckled at the lack of sense of the situation.

"Tell me about it." My shoulders sagged at the lack of logic and casual breaking of physical laws happening in my day to day life.

Chimera leaned against the door to her bedroom. "So boss, do we wake May up right now, or we reintroduce her to her husband after her hangover is resolved?"

It was a good question and I looked at Ben, seeing that he wanted to meet his wife urgently, but decided that he could wait. Ah Empathy what would I do without you? *Fumble in the dark…*

"I can cure hangovers, you know?" I said absently. I could cure people more easily now that I was a phoenix avatar.

A hangover is the experience of various unpleasant physiological and psychological effects following the consumption of alcohol. It was nothing compared to my healing power. Chimera straightened up her posture and looked at me as if I was the second coming. "Why didn't you say anything before?!"

"Sorry…" It didn't matter to me at the time as I couldn't and shouldn't get drunk; it was too dangerous for the planet.

Chimera glared at me and pointed a finger in my direction. "We will speak about it again, Boss. You need to tell Hans and I what you can do. We're a team, right?"

I nervously chuckled, lifting my hands in placation. "You're right."

Her face softened again, and Chimera entered her room. "So peeps, enter into my apartment. Sit or read a book. I'm going to the showers and have breakfast. When you are done close the door behind you." She grabbed a towel and clothes and left us with a smile.

Ben and I entered Chimera's room, as usual it was well organized, the two shelves were loaded with books and there was a walk-in closet where the blond metahuman stored her clothes. I sat on the nearest comfy chair and Ben sat at the table, looking at the sleeping form covered in bedsheets in the bed. Entering into meditation, I spread my awareness around the valley.

I pushed my consciousness into the quantum realm, considering that it couldn't be anything else. Humans were really blind, the world is such a big place, everything is energy and I could perceive and understand the rules it used to work. People generally couldn't observe those effects since they were averaged out in real life. These effects become more noticeable when we look into very small objects like atoms or electrons.

Our current science barely scratched the surface of what is possible, the laws of thermodynamics were kind of guidelines at this point. I played with the rivers and metal deposit in the ground. I found silver, gold and iron in quantity in the valley's soils and brought it on the surface without damaging the fauna and flora. I purified everything with my TK, getting the impurities back into the soil.

I transformed everything into ingots and slowly brought everything through an entrance into the base. The ingots descended slowly to the ground of the hangar bay. They were pure, and it was material for my tinkering. Reopening my eyes, I saw that I was still seeing the quantum realm superposed to everything around me. When I blinked, the world returned to normal. Looking at the time on the clock up the wall, I realized that it was 08:45. I guess that I lost myself in the ore collection. I couldn't wait to do that in space and mine the phenomenal quantity of resources up there. All of a sudden I felt a shift in May's mind, signaling that she was about to wake.

"Ah, May is waking up."

Ben raised, wringing his hands- a tell of his nervousness. May lifted the bedsheets and sat upright, wiping her eyes. She didn't recognize her surroundings and looked around until her eyes settled on me and Ben. Her eyes bulged, recognition flashing through , before she could act, May's face became green and she fled for the attached toilet.

Without being asked to, Ben rushed to her and held May's hair back as she puked. Suddenly, drinking was losing its appeal. I couldn't understand why people did it at all if the outcome was them puking their guts out the next morning. It was heartwarming to gaze at, even if it was a bit gross. I walked up to them and waited for her to finish emptying her stomach.

It was five minutes later when she was done, after Ben helped her up, I put a hand on her cheek and healed her. Visibly, her face gained colour, becoming a healthy pink. It was just a matter to put to right her physiological and psychological effect the alcohol caused; in other terms, I was giving May a pepper up shot. She was in her underwear with a chronic case of bedhead.

"Here, how do you feel now?" I asked her.

May smiled, her eyes blurry with tears as she kept looking at Ben. She only gave me a bit of attention as she said, "Jean, I wish you were there when I was in university."

I clapped, liking her humor. "Ah!"

The atmosphere filled with a certain tension as May gazed at her rejuvenated husband. "And… Ben? Is that you?"

Peter's aunt wiped her eyes, talking to herself as if she was in a lucid dream. "I must be dreaming, yes. You look younger…"

Tears spilled from Ben's eyes as he held onto his wife's shoulders. "Honey… it's really me."

May smiled tiredly and shook her head. "It doesn't matter if it's a dream…" She caught the startled man who yelped by the collar and crushed her lips against his.

For another five minutes, they continued their make out session, making me feel like I was third wheeling. "Cough." I choose to interrupt them.

They stopped but didn't let go of each other, the couple looked at me. Ben looked frustrated and May kept poking her cheek painfully. "Huh? Jean? This is not a dream?"

I shook my head. "No, May. It's not… I brought your husband back for you."

May escaped Ben's arm. "That's… it shouldn't be possible!" She said in denial as she hugged herself as she watched her husband.

It was at this moment Phoenix chose to manifest herself in the room in her flaming bird form and peered irritatingly at May. **(What do humans know of what is possible or not? I've seen countless wonders and monstrosities in the universe surrounding us. Is it so far-fetched that I can resurrect the dead?)**

It seemed that she was getting angry about her gift being refused. Ben and May stepped back, him subtly placing between the flaming abstract and his wife. Phoenix opened her wings and did something to them that I couldn't perceive. She closed her wings and nodded her bird head.

**(I hope that you understand now.)** Phoenix' tone was haughty and commanding.

"W-we understand, thank you for your patience." May spoke, Ben holding her protectively.

I turned to Phoenix. "Huh, what did you do to them?"

Ben and May, I liked them, even if it was Phoenix I wouldn't let her hurt them. Phoenix seemed to know exactly what I was thinking and began to explain herself. **(I gave them one day to talk things out in their own mindscape to prove to May that this man is really Ben Parker.)**

What she essentially did was to make the couple mindmeld, there they showed themselves their memories and felt their shared emotions. There was no way to lie when minds were linked this way… "I should have done that…"

Phoenix looked at me as if I was doing something bad. **(You should take a day to catch up on sleep Jean.)**

I lowered my eyes, not wanting to see the disapproving glare of the firebird. "It's difficult… I am plagued by dreams from your memories and they aren't always good."

Phoenix pecked my head.I held onto my forehead at the twinge of pain. **(Go sleep right now, I shall help you with the integration of our memories.)**

I growled at her. "Fine."

I waved goodbye at Ben and May who didn't seem to want to laugh at my situation, they seemed mildly terrified by the big flaming bird. I left Chimera's room with apprehension. I sent a message to Chimera to help Ben and May and let them see Peter while I was going to have some shut eye.

**# # #**

**(Peter Parker)**

**Cell block 1, third cell  
09:15 AM (Egypt time) **

Peter was doing pushups on one hand, torso naked near his bed. He needed to do something just to get this obsession with his… no, the symbiote out of his mind. Think about something else, he was already developing a more resistant web fluid and a better delivery system in his mind. A communication system and a better costume, he remembered Cindy's, it was some kind of under armor rated costume that she was wearing the last time he saw her when the girls had kicked his ass.

It was his first loss, and he vowed to not get caught flat footed like that ever again. He was done fumbling as a hero, but he thought about what May and Jean had told him. He didn't need to kill himself in doing so, the guilt was still there, but after telling what happened to his aunt May, Peter felt lighter.

"259." Up.

"260." Down.

Up and down, the young man continued to exert himself as he thought that maybe, just maybe, the women in his life were right. The Peter Parker of this other world that Jean had shown him was a lonely man in a dead end job with no hope of being able to really get ahead in life. Jean had also shown him he'd never got his doctorate, and had lost the girl he loved because one of his father figures went crazy. Norman Osborn, at the time he had thought his attention had been good for him; he had even gotten superpowers out of his visit to Oscorp by accident.

Peter still couldn't realize the difference between the insane green goblin and the smart and savvy scientist, Norman. He stopped his pushups, standing up agilely. Peter kept rehashing what May had told him that his uncle would want of them. The guilt over the loss of his Uncle Ben was the primary motivating factor in his super-heroics and his life in general. He knew he had to let it go; he had projects to make life better for his family and the people he loved and society. This is at this moment that Peter realizes that just beating the snot out of criminals may not be the most effective way to help make the world a better place.

"I need to do better, to have time for my loved ones; but still be smarter about the hero gig. Patrolling by myself in search of trouble? Why? I could just build things to do it for me, like let's say... drones? To cover the entire city and help me find the crimes worthy of attention."

**Good, you are finally thinking right.** A feminine voice rang in his mind. Peter looked around him, then outside his cell.

"Who's there?!" Peter called out.

He felt that there was no one out there, or under his bed or on the ceiling. How strange; he could swear he had heard someone.

Yet again he heard a laugh. **It's me, idiot Pete.**

Peter kept looking around, still finding no one. "Grey?"

He heard her harrumph. **Who else? Do you like telepathic communication?**

Peter was right- she _was _a telepath and that fact scared him a little. "This is kind of unsettling... So that's how you speak with Jessica?"

**Yes, Cindy has decided to take the plunge too. So, I have been monitoring your thoughts, at least your surface thoughts, I didn't go further.**

*But you can…* Peter thought nervously.

Jean cackled in Peter's mind, the poor boy startling at it. **Yes I can. Peter, you need to learn meditation and how to shield your thoughts. I hope you are willing to learn it from me.**

Telepathy, super strength, energy projectors, time manipulation- it all made him feel out of his depth. He sat on his bed and said aloud, "The world is bigger than I thought… but if you offer it… I will take it. Say, Grey. I-I am sorry for how I treated you."

The young man felt a weird sensation, as if he was enveloped into a warm embrace. **Peter, I know. I forgive you, you aren't the only one who is to blame, though. I am a right bitch when I want. And it's all the time…**

Peter has been thinking about Jean's method to deal with him; whatever things he had thought of her, Jean had helped him make friends. Given him the strength to confess to Gwen about his feelings for her. She'd even stained her hands with blood to save her from being murdered. She didn't have to do that, he had realized last night after their little timeline hopping session. She was going above and beyond what a normal friend would do.

Blushing, Peter shook his head. "Okay… hum you were saying?"

**Peter, do you know Batman?**

Peter snorted. "Who doesn't?" The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and first appeared in Detective Comics #27 in 1939. Originally named the "Bat-Man," the character was also referred to by such epithets as the Caped Crusader, the Dark Knight, and the World's Greatest Detective.

**Great, Pete. I want you to be Batman. Without the obvious insanity, of course. There are a lot of ways to fight crime; even though punching criminals in the face is super satisfying, you can do a bit like Lex Luthor too, better the city with your resources by leaving no avenue for organized crime to take root in the city.**

There was a long silence before Peter spoke next. "Let me get this right."

"You want me to become an inventor billionaire with a penchant to go play hero in his two lives?" There was a catch in Peter's voice, a bit of hope. He really didn't want to become a broke photographer.

**Yes, and what's more you are going to love it.** It was as if she could feel his emotions about such a matter.

For the first time in two days, Peter smiled. "Sign me up!"

**But first, Pete. I got a surprise for you. I told you that I am the Phoenix, there are some things that I am able to do. And you know, I thought that as a peace offering, I would bring back someone dear to you.**

Peter frowned. "Huh, what?"

Footsteps came from the alley between the cells. A tall brown haired man with blue eyes and in a uniform stopped before his cell. The force-field disappeared in a woosh sound and the man entered. The way he moved and his smile was familiar to Peter.

"Hey slugger." That voice. It was a voice Peter thought he would never hear again.

Peter slowly stood up, his eyes full of disbelief. "Uncle Ben?"

Ben Parker was back. Peter asked himself if he was dreaming, then pinched himself, hard, to confirm. It hurt. His uncle smiled and opened his arms and gestured to him to come to him. Peter didn't make him wait and flew into his uncle's arms and hugged him tightly, afraid that this wasn't real.

"It's me… son." Ben patted Peter's back.

**# # #**

**(Elisabeth Margareth "Peggy" Carter)**

**New York, Queens  
Astoria  
10:37 AM (New York time)**

Peggy was taking a day off in her Victorian townhouse after having worked for days on end to find her wayward telepathic protégé. She was having a glass of gin as she consulted the SHIELD database on her laptop. She had done it and was completely rid of the Hydra plants in the eastern seaboard. Now all she needed was a way to break into the more encoded files to find the big poobah who kept trying to get them transferred back.

The old agent planned to catch him or her and discreetly question them about Hydra's plan and obtain their full member list to catch them all. Peggy sent the files she unearthed on her private server. Something that her godson, Tony, maintained for her in a secure location.

Her phone rang then, and she picked it up off the table, glancing at the ID on the screen. She smiled and pushed the receiving call button and said, "Good Morning, Elaine. How are you today?"

"Better than before, Peggy… now that my daughter is back." Peggy could literally _feel_ the relief and happiness laced in Elaine's voice.

The agent in her couldn't stop herself from asking, "Is she still in hiding?"

Elaine Grey took her time to answer and Peggy's mind began to connect the dots about clues surrounding Jean. SHIELD's resources had triangulated the possible location of this Sinister's character to Egypt. The earthquake and tremors felt the 13th pointed the way to this country. The recording that Charles had given her was enlightening, and Peggy had dispatched a team to pay attention to his activities, links to Magneto, a terrorist and this Sinister man made it mandatory.

The man had a plan, this Utopia project that he spoke about. It made her feel no guilt at bugging Charles' office. Not one iota of it.

Elaine finally answered. "Yes. By the way, she wishes to meet you soon."

The long pause was everything Peggy needed to know to guess at Elaine and Jean's intention. "Is it because she wants to terminate our little deal?"

Peggy leaned in her orthopedic chair, understanding the family's reasons and why Jean would want to terminate their association. She had been vocal about how the scrutiny she found herself under was chafing. The recording and small camera bugging the penthouse the Grey currently lived in were often found destroyed because of her tempers.

Elaine laughed knowingly, aware that Peggy would see through it immediately. "She clearly wants to, but I talked her into at least contacting you about it."

Peggy let out a chuckle too but her heart wasn't in it. She knew that now that Jean was known, there was no way people would forget about her. "You know, she's known in certain circles… I don't think she will ever have peace."

Elaine surprised her once again with her smug tone. "I am not worried."

There was something that the Grey matriarch wasn't telling her which piqued Peggy's interest. "Did she tell you what happened to the man who kidnapped her?"

"She killed him and everyone related to him." Elaine's tone was harsh.

Peggy shook her head, she was thinking that Fury's prediction about Jean dictating terms to them might not be so far-fetched anymore. "Just like I thought, you daughter doesn't play around Elaine."

"It runs in the family." Elaine quipped.

It was time to speak about why Elaine called so Peggy removed her glasses, placing them on the table. "Why are you calling?"

"To the point, huh? I wanted to invite you for dinner."

Peggy smiled, it was always refreshing to speak with that woman. She wasn't dazzled at all by her status. "You daughter will be there?"

Elaine sighed. "I am going to try to get her there. She's been cagey about where her new little base is."

Peggy dared a question. "Did she appropriate the base of the enemy?"

The Grey Matriarch laughed. "And more."

Peggy smiled with pride. "That's my girl."

"No, she's my girl Peggs." Elaine said in mock affront.

"Don't be jealous." Peggy said in a patronizing tone, then, more serious, she added, "I will be there, thank you for inviting me."

"Oh, my elder daughters are here, I will call you later to confirm your participation, bye."

"Goodbye." Peggy pressed the end button and put her phone back on the table. She laughed and realized that she needed that; the stress of the previous day was bleeding out of her. Peggy felt her age more and more as she kept on top of things. There were days that she so deeply wanted to go on some vacation on a tropical island and live her days, not having to worry about anything.

However, with Hydra having infiltrated SHIELD and enjoying its resources to do god knows what, she won't rest until she sees the squiddies dead and buried. An alert pinged on her laptop, she put on her glasses and looked. Her tech guy had finally come through and uploaded the files she wanted. The case of Howard Stark's death.

In 1991, Peggy knew something was wrong with Howard's death since the moment she laid eyes on his body. How could she not? What with the fact that Howard's skull had been bashed in multiple times- not at all consistent with a car crash where the impact would have been singular. And given the fact that Howard had been transporting the remaining two vials of super soldier serum in the trunk of his car which were now missing, she knew something was amiss.

Which meant only one thing; Howard was murdered. At the time, she couldn't tell anyone, not when she knew what it must have meant. If the news about having super soldier serum got out, it meant there must have been a leak. That meant such a secret like this had been kept under lock and key so only very few people had known about it. This was one of the old cases that has been on her mind for a long time, and finally she seemed to be able to piece things together now that she knew SHIELD had a pest problem.

Peggy typed on her keyboard, opened the file and saw who knew about the news. There was her, Howard, Pierce, her mentee, Fury, and a handful of other agents, none of which she thought were capable of giving away the secret. Fury was secretive and kept his emotions close, but that was what made him a good agent, not a suspect.

As she looked through the logs of the files on the computer, trying to figure out who could have accessed the files about Howard at the time, she came across something that really bothered her. Only three people had accessed the information about when Howard would be transporting the vials. Howard, to log the information, herself to verify the transfer.

And Alexander Pierce. Why had Pierce been looking at the files? She knew that it had to be more than blatant curiosity. He didn't need to access the files- especially one so highly classified. A hunch told Peggy to peruse through other reports accessed by Pierce since then, other cases where the mission had gone sideways. Either the people they were tracking knew they were coming, or something else had gone horrendously wrong, more often than not resulting in the deaths of agents.

Pierce had accessed each and every one.

"Bloody Hell." She breathed in disbelief but not really surprised, since Jean had told her they were infiltrated and this for years. But it was the personal betrayal that hurt, Pierce was supposed to be a friend.

Her phone rang again, and Peggy looked at the ID again. *Speak of the devil…*

"Pierce."

"You really shouldn't have accessed those files," she heard a cultured voice say.

"You're HYDRA." Peggy bared her teeth.

"Obviously, you think we didn't notice your little stunt about keeping our agents out of the East North East branch?"

Peggy felt two hands seize her shoulder and her head, two men appeared out of the air, wearing strange black suits that became transparent. One of them kept the cellphone near her ear, Peggy understood what was happening. "If you kill me, they'll know it was you," she informed him, "There's security cameras in this room. It'll blow your cover and expose you."

"Except I won't kill you," he told her, "It would raise too many questions. Instead, I just need you to forget. You'll forget everything that happened in the last three months."

"How do you plan on doing that?" she scoffed as one of the agents holding her down pulled out a jet injector with a clear solution in it.

"The memory loss serum Howard had worked on shortly before his death. It's a shame we never got to properly test the long-term effects, but either way, we know it will work and make you forget. But just to be safe, we'll give you slightly more than usual." Pierce's voice held some glee. She thought about fighting, but she knew she was no longer as young as she once was. Either way, she couldn't just allow him to wipe her memory. Not when she had just learned that Pierce was responsible for her organization being infested with vermin. She elbowed the man nearest to her, making him release her. Peggy smoothly took her pistol out of her hidden holster and fired at the second Hydra agents.

However, there was a third one who had kept hidden and tackled her, the man she had elbowed moved closer and placed the needle against her neck. Peggy struggled, biting the man holding her in a sleeper hold but it didn't stop the other from injecting her slightly. Her eyes drooped slowly, and she felt her mind draw black as her body grew limp.

"Good night, Carter," Pierce taunted her through her phone, as the men placed her gently in her chair. "By the time you wake up, you won't remember any of this."


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 13**

**Egypt Base  
December 19th, 1996**

I was dreaming, I knew that but reliving so many different memories, impressions and using skills I wasn't aware I had was clearly beneficial. The Phoenix Force was one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe, possessing the unlimited power to create and destroy anything and everything. I needed this knowledge to stay in control of the phoenix force.

Phoenix was helping me by giving me the memories of countless hosts who had gained control of the Phoenix Force and proceeded to help her safeguard the universe. I was learning how to go swim into a sun, generate cosmic storms, solar flares, geomagnetic storms, cosmic rays, coronal mass ejection and black holes. It was dangerous; having this level of power was a massive responsibility and I didn't want to use those kinds of phenomena yet.

I wouldn't shirk my duties, though. I made a deal and I planned on seeing it through. As I watched a Phoenix host use the same disintegration waves I used on Sinister and Sublime, I asked myself if there was a way to lower the power of such an ability without it consuming and removing a near infinite amount of molecules per second.

One of the most controversial abilities to date was the life-force control; a female host was taking the "life energy" from some kind of space whale, rendering it "dead"; I wasn't surprised though, the Phoenix Force could control and manipulate life and death itself. If I were to use such an ability on an entire planet what would happen? I visualized Mars, and thought that maybe this was what had happened to it.

Phoenix continued to filter the more relevant memories and skills to me; cosmic pyrokinesis, one of my favorite skills from Phoenix. The next host generated cosmic flames; they could be created under any conditions, even the impossible ones such as the vacuum of space or underwater. These flames did not require oxygen to burn, burning so intensely that matter was wholly consumed without by-products such as ash. The host had perfect control over these flames, and they only consumed what it willed.

I had noticed that it burned everything I wanted to burn just like the wiki had said it would. Energy absorption was the next skill, I was shown that I could directly absorb, manipulate and fully control any type of energy; such as the energy of a star, a black hole or even a whole galaxy. This… was scary as hell. The next ability that another female host showed me was where she was transmigrating throughout time and space by folding its energy back into itself, causing it to collapse akin to a black hole. Then she reformed herself when she'd reached her destination in another part of the universe, much like the Phoenix of ancient myths.

Cosmic teleportation was simply awesome, the next host teleported herself and others across vast distances such as to another planet or galaxy, or farther, even an entirely different timeline. Then the memories became more esoteric and touched on temporal manipulation, the skills Phoenix had used to show Peter what had happened to his counterpart in Earth 616, control over existence, matter transmutation, limited nigh-omnipotence and future life force tap.

I preferred the more concrete skills such as a concussive force blast powerful enough to destroy whole planetary bodies. Then Phoenix pecked me on the head again to pay attention to her more abstract skills. **(It's important.)**

I was shown how everything was interlinked- that there was an ecology to everything. The movement of planets, galaxies and their clusters. How to influence a species or fight incursions from beyond the multiverse. I learned to dissociate myself from my feelings when doing those tasks and to be one with the Phoenix Force, its instrument. I was a bloody cosmic gardener, it made me laugh.

**(This is what it means to be a Phoenix avatar.)** Phoenix added grandly as she had a representation of the universe between her hands.

I nodded. "I understand."

Phoenix pressed a palm against my cheek. **(Do you?)**

Not totally but I was sure that, with experience, I'd perfect my understanding. "I will be ready for the role."

She sighed, she knew me a bit too well. **(Good enough.)**

I stared into my hands, feeling the power that was coursing through me, the understanding of each of my abilities. I could do whatever I wanted, my power was only limited by my imagination and will on the fabric of reality. "Hmm, I can now fly unaided through the vacuum of space, and can travel interstellar distances faster than the speed of light. The possibilities."

**(Now it's time to wake up, you have people to protect.)** My cosmic counterpart slapped me back into my body.

**# # #**

**04:35 PM (Egypt time)**

Opening my eyes, I jolted upright. I remained in my bed inside my new bedroom. Feeling rested and aware of my environment, I sluggishly exited the red and white bedsheets of my bed. "That was a nice nap, what time is it?"

Taking the tablet that was charging on the nightstand on the left of the bed, the lock screen showed me that it was 04:36 PM right now, I whistled. I'd slept for half a day. That realization jolted me out of bed and made me teleport to the showers and proceed to get a cool shower. I missed my mom, dad and even Madelyn who I had left with Elektra to get to know her better.

Goldie stored my clothes and I walked naked into the showers. The ground was covered in non-slip white tiles, the shower system was kind of high-tech and reminded me of those artificial waterfalls I had seen in TV ads in my previous reality.

All of a sudden it dawned on me that my symbiote had become unnaturally silent since we retrieved Venom. Maybe she had something on her mind? "How are you doing today, Goldie? Is there anything different since we changed?"

[_Uncertain_: Changed something has.] Something was making Goldie feel anxious and… lost?

I pushed the water tap of the waterfall shower and it fell in a trickle on me at first, gradually getting stronger. "Like what? Can we still use the powers from the people whose DNA you assimilated?"

This was an ability I didn't want her to lose; it was precious and a game changer. I pushed the button of the soap dispensary and took a handful, lathering it onto my skin.

[_Acquiescence_: It's about the Voice of the Cosmos, we are cut off from it.]

So Goldie was unable to call for help to the nearest Klyntar hosts. I didn't think we'd lost anything too precious; Goldie was in my body when I had gotten my rebirth, she may have gotten cut off from the Klyntar network but she must have gained new abilities. "Is it really bad? Because I don't want to think about what would happen if more Klyntar were to come on my planet."

Goldie was silent for a moment. Then with a lot of doubt and worries, she added, [_Uncertain_: Different it is. What should I do?]

I hugged my Klyntar friend mentally and began to think fast. I didn't like the fact that she seemed to hurt inside like this. Then a lightbulb lit up in my mind. "You can create your own network with your own progeny, right?"

[_Pondering_: Think about this I must.] Goldie then went silent, but I could still feel her thinking.

Smiling, I was pleased I'd given her something to think about. "Okay, dear. Give me your answer when you are ready."

All I received at that was her acquiescence, meanwhile I finished my ablutions. I felt really clean after the problems of this morning. I felt good, rested but not at peace. This was becoming a problem, I needed introspection. The waterfall shower ceased to flow and I dried myself with a thought. Holding a few locks of hair, I noted that I needed a hairdresser, urgently.

I was surprised that Goldie wasn't dressing me like she usually did; the symbiote was really busy thinking, so I did the next best thing. As I walked out of the shower room, my Phoenix costume materialized on my body. It was red and gold, still with the Phoenix Force Symbol. I hated it, it looked like a silly spandex suit; nevertheless it was simply too comfortable because it felt like I wore nothing. As I looked closer at the fabric I observed that it was **made of** the psionic energy! So the Phoenix costume was pure psionic energy, and capable of materializing instantly and conforming to whatever shape and structure the wearer chooses. A bit like the Green Lantern's uniforms. Hmm, it was essentially pure energy wrapped around me, and designed to keep me comfortable, safe, and no longer needing to eat, sleep, or worry about traveling through space.

"This is handy, but I still don't like the spandex look. Maybe I can customize it?" A thought for later.

By spreading my awareness, I felt that everyone was gathered in the kitchen. May and Ben were getting to know my subordinates and Pete was scarfing down food like a pig. I shook my head. Not wanting to see anyone, I teleported out of the base and appeared in the sky and a verdant valley was under me. It was beautiful, an oasis sheltered in the desert; and it was **mine**.

I smiled at this little fact and let my inner fire out, allowing it to flow through me as the Phoenix Force filled my entire being. My own personal power swelled to almost infinity. Lifting my head I decided to give myself a little treat and go on a walk throughout the solar system.

_SKREEE_! I blasted out into the sky and quickly reached the Thermosphere, I turned myself mid flight and looked at the blue and green globe under me. As I ascended, shooting for the stars, my planet's size was becoming very small. As I left orbit, I didn't feel like a giant. I felt very, very small. There was so much debris and so many satellites around it that I found it… unsanitary and not responsible.

*Maybe there was a business in recycling them for cheap, that's a plan.* I opened my life-sight.

I hadn't had time to admire Earth the last time I had been in space since I had been busy killing Sinister and his stable of clones, but Earth was beautiful. I was born on this planet. I gazed at its blue oceans and green wilderness; its deserts and jungles, the lakes. I loved her so much. She was beauty; she was wonder; she was heaven by divine design.

My life-sight focused on the organisms all over the surface and the depths of the oceans. Earth, she was ecology; she was genetics, her lifeforms evolved and my love for her was absolute. In this wide universe there could be no finer planet for any species than their natural home. However, my sight also showed me the ugliness, the pollution spread all over my beautiful world.

The top ten sites of pollution were Chernobyl- the infamous site of the worst nuclear disaster in history. Dzerzhinsk, Russia, one of Russia's principal manufacturing sites of chemical weapons. Kabwe, Zambia, legacy of decades of lead and zinc mining had left a city poisoned by debilitating concentrations of lead dust in the soil and by metals in the water. The same for Oroya in Peru, another mining town. Linfen, in China where residents literally choked on coal dust in the evenings. Mailuu-Suu was home to nearly two million cubic meters of radioactive mining waste that threatened the entire Ferghana valley, one of the most fertile and densely populated areas in Central Asia. Norilsk, Russia, an industrial city founded in 1935 as a slave labor camp, the Siberian city of Norilsk housed the world's largest heavy metals smelting complex.

Then Sumgayit, in Azerbaijan where harmful emissions of industrial and agricultural chemicals were released annually. And the worst of the worst, in China, Tianying, that was one of the largest lead production bases; the lead concentrations in the air and soil made my eyes water just by looking at it. How could people live in this filth?

They needed to open their eyes and see the many gifts bestowed upon us by the planet. What more did they want? What more did they need? What could I do to fix the planet? Because I was sure as hell not leaving it like this!

It all came down to great power and great responsibilities again. My hands twitched, knowing I could fix everything with a wave of them, but- would humanity learn if I just did it myself? No, they would continue on as though nothing had changed. What I needed to do was create the tools to enable them to clean up their messes, and educate them to not repeat their mistakes.

Hmph, "Easier said than done."

My Phoenix flames coalesced around me in the Raptor of life's form, space debris and micro-meteorite bouncing off me. With a thought, I went to warp speed toward Jupiter. Earth became miniscule as I travelled faster than the speed of light. I travelled from Earth to the Jovian planet in one minute; just like that I covered 633.54 million km.

I stopped flying and watched as familiar stripes and swirls were now before my eyes. I felt its immense gravity; but it had no hold on me as I didn't want it to. I passed a hand into its windy clouds. It was actually cold. The atmosphere was made of hydrogen and helium. I could smell the ammonia and see the water in the clouds. I flew backward as I saw the giant red spot bigger than Earth, it was a storm that had been raging for hundreds of years.

I passed between Io and Jupiter and went back to Warp, this time shooting for Mars, I wasn't crazy enough to go to Titan yet. I flamed over Mars and landed on its surface with a crack, leaving a little crater. Looking left and right, I checked to see if there was anyone. Spreading my awareness all over the planet, I found… no one. With my life-sight I did discover bacteria.

Looking into the sky I saw that the sky of Mars near the Sun appeared blue, while the sky far away from the Sun appeared red. I was the first person on Mars since... ever! With my TK, I dug a bit more into the crater and enlarged it for over three kilometers in diameter and used the martian soil to cover it with a crystalyne diamond dome; then I buried deep for over ten meters and packed the soil and transmuted it to stone.

I created stairs that led up and to an exit which I opened in the dome's lattice, that I elongated to turn into a makeshift entry lock. I levitated sixty meters up in the air, and there was a lot of space there. With a wave, I covered the base of the future martian house with another dome made of stone. "It's going to be great, all I need are more tools and resources to develop it. A good hobby for later."

Landing, I glanced up again. As the dome was transparent, the sky was still visible to me, the disk of the Sun appearing mostly white, with a slight bluish tinge. I would need to be careful with ionizing radiation when I brought the girls. I teleported outside the dome, it wasn't necessary for me to take a breath but I could still analyze the atmosphere with my powers. There was not much air on Mars- the atmospheric pressure there was less than one one-hundredth of what we breathed on Earth. There was potential there.

I would need a lot of icy comets to melt and thicken the atmosphere. Mars was alive. Dying, yes, but still alive. My Phoenix powers compelled me to attempt to save her, but I lacked time and didn't feel confident in my mastery of the Phoenix Force, yet. I walked away from my domed future residence and thought about the dreams Phoenix had led me through.

Control. I needed control and the red costume showed me how lacking I was in that domain. My heart was full of hatred for my dead enemies. Fear was what controlled my heart and guided my actions. What was there to fear anymore? Sinister? I buried his ashes in the sand.

Was I afraid because I didn't know what the future would bring? I had lived in fear for years and now I was finally free. But I didn't know what to do? I stared into the sky, allowing my awareness to spread all over the solar system and I focused on the Earth. "It needs my help. That's home. On it, everyone I love, everyone I know, needs to thrive and Stan Lee only knows how fucked up this universe is."

Was I strong enough, though? Marvel had a tendency to try to strike back hard. Fear of the unknown, yes that was a problem. I couldn't let fear control me though so I would smash through every obstacle. I put my fist before me, and fire covered my entire body. The Dune _Litany Against Fear_ came to my mind, it portrayed exactly what I wanted.

"I will not fear.  
Fear is the mind-killer.  
I will face my fear.  
I will let it pass through me.  
When the fear has gone,  
there shall be nothing.  
Only I will remain."

I repeated the _Litany Against Fear_ like a mantra until I believed it, up till my mind focused on my future goals. Better the world, better myself and bring those worthy into the sun. *Nah, sounded too man-of-steely.*

"I will just make a ton of money, heal the planet and try to lead metahumans and vanilla humans into the future by cooperating like I originally wanted to." Something strange occured when I said that, my costume changing from red to green. The color change spread from the Phoenix Force Symbol to the entire psionic cloth-like construct covering my body.

I grinned at it. "Well that's a big sign that I am on the right path."

**(Congratulations, you won't go mad with power anymore.)**

I jumped in surprise, holding my hand on my chest. "Huh, thanks Phoenix…"

**(Now go back home, mom needs to speak with you.)**

I really didn't like how she tried to boss me around. A no was on the tip of my tongue but mom wanting to see me was more important. "Fine, I needed to give her one of the satellite communicators anyway." I sighed and opened a portal to my lab, not caring that I was on Mars.

Looking behind me, I stared at the big dome and smiled. Then, I entered the portal, curious about what my mother wanted.

**# # #**

**(Elaine Grey)**

**New York, Queens  
Penthouse  
01:37 PM**

Elaine dialed her friend's number again only to reach the voice-mail for the third time. The Grey matriarch hung up the handset of the phone back on the desk. She looked at the time om the clock nearest to her and bit her lips. *Peggy isn't answering. Strange.*

Elaine heard the main door to the penthouse's entrance open, and the soft footfalls and the crinking of grocery bags could be heard."Mom, can you please come give me some help?!"

"Julia?" Elaine cried out from the living room.

The Grey Matriarch walked out of the living room to the entry hall, dressed in a black heavy winter coat with two large grocery bags in her arms. She couldn't see her daughter's face as the bags obscured it."I got everything you asked me on the list."

Elaine helped her daughter, taking a looked inside, it was mainly ingredients for tonight's dinner. "Good girl, but why didn't you ask any of the nice young men guarding this place to help you?"

Julia whispered in a conspiratorial tone, "Well, I don't trust them… Jean doesn't either, so I assumed that I shouldn't ask anything."

Elaine sighed, lamenting that her daughters were all being paranoid about SHIELD because Jean didn't trust them and that was enough for her. The two women went to the kitchen to store the groceries, they were done in ten minutes. However the arrival of a certain younger redhead in a flash of blue light surprised them.

Jean appeared in a green skin-tight and form fitting costume with a strange bird symbol on her, her gloves, sash and thigh high boots were a golden color. She oozed maturity and sex appeal. *There's no way my daughter will go out like this!*

"Hi there, mom." Jean greeted, voice low.

Julia glomped her younger sister, holding her tight. "Jean! You are back."

Elaine's mood lightened at the display of affection between her two had become distant when the eldest had left for university so it was great to see that blood was thicker than water and that there were no hard feelings between them.

Julia let go of Jean and Elaine seized this brief instant to ask in a disapproving tone. "Jean what are you wearing?"

The younger redhead looked down at herself, cheeks reddening and she crossed her arms under her breasts and petulantly said, "That's my Phoenix costume."

Jean must have felt that Elaine didn't approve of her current get up that didn't leave anything to the imagination and opted to become defiant and ready to argue.

Julia chuckled. "It's really corny."

The comment made Jean feel self conscious of her costume and in a haze of flame it slowly disappeared until the young woman wore a different outfit that covered her as the previous costume disappeared. She now wore a turquoise top with an expansive cleavage window and tactical black pants with a tasteful belt with a golden falcon shaped buckle. "Tell me about it… at least I can change clothes at the drop of a hat now."

Julia gaped at her sister, then gushed over her, holding onto her shoulders. "That is so unfair! I want to know how to do that too!"

Jean smiled patronizingly. "Maybe another time, sis." And Julia looked stubborn, not letting go of her sister at all. The sisters were intransigent like that.

Elaine's youngest sighed, trying to ignore her sister by turning to her mother. "Hey, mom, I felt that you needed to see me. Is there something I can do for you?"

She nodded, taking her daughter's hand in hers. "Yes, are you down for dinner with us tonight?"

Jean was hiding for a reason that escaped Elaine, holed up in Egypt and helping people. The matriarch wanted her daughter back with her, like she used to- before all that freedom changed her and she developed bad habits. She had lived alone before meeting her husband, John, and it wasn't a good period in her life.

Elaine put a hand on her daughter's shoulder and looked at her in the eyes. "I invited Peggy, but there seems to be complications as she isn't answering my calls"

Jean's mother wouldn't say that it was also a means to curb Jean's streak of bad decisions. Peggy often had good ideas on how to handle her daughter; she could lead Jean to think it's good for her to do certain actions, like staying with them more or returning to school. Elaine was aware that Jean wanted to test out of school and work on going to college pronto, but she wanted her daughter to not lose her way or stop interacting with people.

As Elaine schemed, Jean pondered over the current loss of contact with her mentor. "Strange, she never lets go of it. Let's give it another hour and we will call her again."

Elaine nodded, happy her baby was distracted from her own feelings and wouldn't guess her intentions. "If you are hungry now, I can give you something filling to help you before dinner."

A smile slowly spread on Jean's face, her stomach rumbling on cue. "Huh, that's fine I guess." The younger Grey blushed as her belly continued to make a show of its smirked. Her daughter was a glutton and could easily be bribed with food, just like her elder sisters. But there was no reward without the stick. "And are you helping with the cooking, Jean?"

Jean must have seen something in the eyes of her mother as she plastered a fake smile on her face and shouted with mock enthusiasm, "Totally! I wouldn't have it any other way, mom."

Elaine laughed and pulled her daughter toward the kitchen island. Julia whispered 'sucker' in the background as she giggled at Jean's meekness toward their mother, then smiled as she trailed after them to help, leaving her winter coat on the nearest hanger.

**# # #**

**Back with Jean…**  
**05:05 PM**

I'd been roped into making dinner because I was a sucker like that where my mom was concerned. She just had to ask with those scary eyes and I kept folding like a house of cards. It made me wonder where the superpowered being that had killed Sinister and had reshaped landscapes or had gone to Mars was. I was currently peeling potatoes, like a good daughter would for her mother.

Sighing, I continued to peel multiple potatoes with TK which was actually a good control exercise. I took my time though, not wanting to go too fast and mess up the ingredients. There was something refreshing about doing mundane tasks with my powers. It was grounding. It made me realize that I wanted things to go back to normal too, be there with my family and hang out with my friends.

As we worked, mom, Julia and I were also watching a spanish soap opera marathon. As the last episode was ending I was already done with the potatoes that I crushed into purée in a bowl for my mother. I looked at the time and frowned, Peggy should have called back already to tell us if she was coming or not. She was too responsible and conscientious to leave us hanging like this.

"Mom, I'm going to call uncle Phil. He must know what has been happening." A feeling of foreboding filled me.

"Alright, Jean." My mom said absently as she observed as the actress proceeded to order the assassination of the love interest.

There was no way she was focusing on what I said. I shrugged and took out my GSM from Goldie's mysterious storing space. Since it was discharged it wouldn't turn on. I sighed; it'd been one month since I had bothered with it. A crafty smile blossomed upon my face as I took out the battery from the phone and slowly began charging it with a really low charge of electricity.

The battery would be damaged after a bit of use, but I intended to build myself a smartphone anyway. I _did _have the tech for it. After five minutes I stopped charging the battery and slotted it back into the phone and turned it on. It was one of those old Nokia brick phones that were super solid.

*Hmm, I am at half the bar for the battery.*

I quickly scrolled through my contact list through the tiny digital screen and found uncle Phil's number. Hitting call, I pressed the phone against my ear and listened as there was a dial tone. It went straight to voicemail.

"_Hello, this is Phil. Thanks for calling. Please leave your name, number, and the reason you'd like to chat, and I'll get back to you ASAP."_

Beep.

"Fuck." I muttered, trying again.

It gave me the same message, and I was forced to call on a number I thought I never would, I called Fury. Fifteen seconds later, it didn't even get to the dial tone, straight up telling me this number wasn't in service. The feeling of foreboding intensified yet again.

It was time to go check what was going on. "Mom, I will need to check on Peggy. I have a bad feeling." I called out.

For once, the soap opera didn't hold her rapt attention and she turned to me. "Go, we need to know if something has happened. Your dad and Sarah will be here soon enough too."

I nodded and my current outfit disappeared in favor of my Phoenix costume. I glanced down and it was still green, perfect. I teleported out of the living room and found myself in the sky and I cloaked directly in order to not be seen. Cerberus HQ was under me, the tall building was a hive of activity even this late in the day.

Pushing my awareness, I scanned the building for Phil, Nick, Peggy and even some of my agent friends. Alice, Eve and Francesco were there, but they felt anxious about something. Phil had... disappeared? Fury had simply signed off today after trying to find Peggy. I didn't have to look for their memories; they kept shouting the rumors in their minds.

Peggy disappearing and her most trusted agents with her? Something smells rotten in Denmark. I teleported to Astoria, in Queens. This part of Queens was a multicultural neighborhood of low-rise residences and small businesses. I had spied on Peggy going there in astral form to know where she lived. I arrived at the red brick townhouse with a big garden, there was no one here.

Floating up to the porch, I searched for the alarm that had to be here; there was already the keypad next to the door. Testing the windows, I noticed they were all bulletproof. I wouldn't be surprised if this entire house was in fact a fortress. *This is Peggy's house alright.*

As I peered inside, I got enough spatial information to teleport inside. The door was behind me and I could see that the place didn't seem disturbed at all. Still, the gnawing feeling remained within me, and those instincts were more than my own. I decided to use temporal manipulation to see what happened there.

The ability that I was about to use was somewhat like psychometry, people left imprints of their psionic energy -what an aura was made of- and I was able to tap into them to obtain historical memories or sensations concerning places, beings and objects they observed. With a wave of my hand, everything around me gained a blue tint.

I wanted to know what had happened here today, starting with this morning. The scene began with someone entering through the door, a tall woman, with blue eyes and blond hair, dressed in a black pantsuit. I noticed that she was armed. She called out for Peggy and I was surprised to discover that she was Sharon Carter, my mentor's niece.

Peggy exited her kitchen and entered the living room with a cup of tea in her hands. They kissed each other on the cheeks and some inane pleasantries and gossip began to be shared. I fast forwarded the scene until Sharon left the house and Peggy was left alone and went to the dining room to work on her work laptop. It looked sturdy and big- military built.

There came the call she received from her mother about dinner, and the women began to speak about her. It was heartwarming to see the eyes of the old woman filled with a fondness that was also evident in her voice, and exchanging pleasantries with Elaine Grey. Peggy then told her that she would be here for dinner. Then for hours she continued to work and saw that she must have found something disturbing because it was the first time she heard her mentor cuss.

"_Bloody hell." _

Then her phone rang, and she scowled when she saw the caller ID. "_Pierce."_

I stopped the scene, and augmented my hearing to hear what the man would say. And it was nothing good when she played the scene again.

"_You really shouldn't have accessed those files," _Jean heard the posh accented man tell her.

"_You're HYDRA."_ Peggy accused.

"_Obviously, you think we didn't notice your little stunt about keeping our agents out of the East North East branch?"_ Jean thought she was smug, but this guy put her levels to shame. She asked herself if it was the same Pierce guy from the Winter Soldier Movie, and she hoped not; she hated the guy.

And then everything happened as if I was into a spy movie when two transparent figures immobilized Peggy on her chair. Some kind of commando guy in high-tech cloaking suits, it wasn't as powerful as her Star Trek inspired cloaking field but the fact that Hydra had this was worrying. One of the suited men held the phone to Peggy's ear.

"_If you kill me, they'll know it was you,"_ Peggy spoke, remaining cool as a cucumber. That had my utmost respect.

Peggy continued, "_There's security cameras in this room. It'll blow your cover and expose you."_

Jean bristled at Pierce's strange laugh. "_Except I won't kill you; it would raise too many questions. Instead, I just need you to forget. You'll forget everything that happened in the last three months."_

Peggy scoffed with moxie."_How do you plan on doing that?"_

I smiled until I saw the jet injector in one of the special suited men's hands. I feared for my mentor's life at this point.

"_The memory loss serum Howard had worked on shortly before his death. It's a shame we never got to properly test the long-term effects, but either way, we know it will work and make you forget. But just to be safe, we'll give you slightly more than usual."_ It was at this moment that I watched the short fight between Peggy and the two men and I was impressed to see she'd almost won. But there was a third hidden man who tackled her and immobilized her on the ground with a choke hold. They injected Peggy with the solution to erase her memories.

"_Good night, Carter, by the time you wake up, you won't remember any of this."_ I heard Pierce on the phone.

Steadily, a feeling of rage bubbled up in me because of this presumptuous man and what he was doing to one of my heroes.

Then something else happened and Peggy's body began to seize, the men around her panicking. They tried to hold her down. One of them took Peggy's phone and spoke in it. "_Boss we may have a problem, Miss Carter seems to react badly to the solution."_

"_Crap, bring her to the facility. She must not die, is that understood?"_ I heard the sliver of panic in f Pierce's voice.

The man didn't take off his visor at all when he spoke. "_Yes, boss."_ He hung up the phone, and placed it into one of his belt pouches. He looked at the panicked agents and commanded, "_Load her up, we need to move!"_

My anger burned inside of me, my Phoenix costume flickering between green and red the whole time until I chose to channel my anger. I became rational, I decided to follow their psionic imprint and I exited the house.

**# # #**

It wasn't difficult to follow them, they left by non-descript van, abandoned it to take an armored SUV, where they injected something into Peggy that stopped her seizure. She was sleeping as they were leaving Queens for somewhere in Manhattan. There they took a helicopter and I followed them to New Jersey. I followed the ghostly vehicle to Camp Lehigh.

"It's oddly familiar… oh." It came to me just then.

I was pretty sure it was where Project Rebirth was happening and that Abraham Erkine proceeded to test candidates for the super soldier serum. The camp was surrounded by woods, there was still minimal activity from it. Vehicles, guards and different installations told me that this was an off the book operation going on here. I landed near the helicopter and looked as a doctor helped by soldiers loaded Peggy on a stretcher and disappeared inside the facility. I pushed my awareness and sought her out . A smile spread on my face as I found her sleeping mind.

I wanted to take her immediately but something stopped me from doing so. Pierce was both mine and Peggy's enemy so I couldn't leave him at my back. *Never again.*

I needed to uproot him and Hydra from SHIELD- it was certain that he would come after me if I resurfaced. I had swept away all their bugs and cameras in the penthouse but even there my parents and sisters weren't safe. Before making a move to save Peggy, I needed to stash away dad, mom and my sisters as well as securing my friends and their families in a location unknown to Hydra and under my control.

Just in case, I created a mental link between Peggy and me. It disgusted me to do this to her without her consent but I would ask for forgiveness later. It was permanent and wherever they moved her on the planet, I would find her. I resisted my impulse of wanting to destroy everything and leave with her, but I needed to do this right.

I needed to find Phil and Nick. I levitated and left Camp Lehigh through the sky and flamed and found myself outside the atmosphere at mach seven and stayed in orbit. I didn't need a cerebro but I still needed to focus hard to find a specific person. I pushed my awareness all over North America and looked for him.

**# # #**

**(Charles Xavier)**

**New York, Westchester County  
Xavier's school for the gifted  
Underground Bunker**

Charles was on Cerebro looking for new mutants having awakened their gifts. He'd found one in Wisconsin and another in Kentucky. Logan and Cyclops had already gone to recruit the boy. The screen of the super computer suddenly showed a huge psionic signature all over North America. Charles quickly put on his helmet and focused on spreading his awareness, momentarily gaining near-omnipotence of what was happening.

The psionic energy he could feel was familiar, and immediately he knew who it was. Jean Grey. He had never thought that she was so powerful and didn't need a machine to spread her telepathic gift all over the world. He felt when she focused on him and he saw her astral form appear before him. She wore a green and gold form hugging costume with the symbol of a golden bird on her chest.

Her face was neutral as she greeted him with a nod, "Professor."

The bald professor remembered their last conversation and how she had effortlessly sent him back into his body when he had detected her and went to look for her in that warehouse in Queens. "Jean, you look… well." He loosened his tie as she continued to observe him.

Charles briefly remembered the memories of Peggy telling him that he was a horrible man. Jean's eyes widened.

He barely felt the pressure on his mind, but he understood that Jean was somewhat upset. He was surprised... She had just read his mind without even trying, what about his defenses or mental shields? Her eyes glowed yellow with fire, her costume slowly turning red as he stared at her. There was a lot of fury being thrown out in the room. He watched as the young woman closed her eyes and the wrath storm slowly subsided. Her costume turning green again, when she reopened her eyes it was to see a disappointed expression on her face.

"I am sorry Jean, if I knew…" Charles started, only to be interrupted.

Jean raised a hand to stop him and spoke over him. "I will visit you again another time and we will talk again, _professor_. I never expected your defenses to be so light. You are no longer the eight hundred pound gorilla in the room, you should train yourself more. There are things on this planet that can kill you."

"Goodbye." The young woman's astral form dissipated, and Charles exhaled a sigh of relief.

He took off the Cerebro helmet and put it in its place on the super computer. The level of power the young woman clearly exhibited was well beyond what he had thought her capable of. Charles had feared for his life when her eyes had glowed and her costume changed color. He still was; she could kill him and everyone in the school with a thought and it would be his fault.

Would she do that, though? She didn't seem to want to take his life. With a _swish, _the door to Cerebro's room opened, letting Ororo Munroe appear in her full body dark blue and gold tight fitting X-men uniform walk toward the professor. She looked at the professor and put a hand on his and asked, "Is something wrong?"

A sorrowful expression appeared on Charles' face. "Yes, I may have jeopardized the entire school."

Ororo flinched at that. "Charles?"

He shook his head, passing a hand on his shaved head. Then he stared straight into the african beauty's blue eyes. "You remember Miss Grey?"

Ororo frowned and tried to remember, her expression clearing when she did. "The one Logan and you went to look after."

Charles nodded. "She may want my life."

Ororo stood taller when she heard this. The sclera in her eyes disappeared, now completely white. "Why?"

The bald professor heard the tension in her voice, she was ready for action at a moment's notice. He doubted that his younger friend would be enough to stop Jean Grey if she ever came here with nefarious intentions. "Because, Ororo, I am part of why she has been living in fear for years."

He remembered the day where they had had the chance to take down Sinister once and for all, but the mad scientist bought his life with his service. As usual, Charles had given him a chance, against Magneto's wishes. It was ten years ago on Bar Sinister.

Ororo shook her white colored mane, having no context to judge how dire the situation is. "Could you give me more than that?"

Charles turned his chair toward the exit. "Please follow me, it's better if we have this discussion over tea."

The weather mistress followed him, uncertainty etched onto her face. Asking herself if it was the usual reveal of secret Charles always did that exploded in their faces and embroiled her and the students into shenanigans.

**# # #**

**(Phil Coulson)**

**Tremley  
Route 95  
06:45 PM**

Phil was in deep trouble. He'd exfiltrated from the building serving as a front for SHIELD when he saw Pierce and his goons enter his floor as if they owned it. Then they began asking questions about Peggy's policies and went through IT to have a log of all the files she consulted. Since then, he tried to call her, but she didn't respond- even when he texted her the code they had agreed to, she had stayed silent.

Nick was the first to leave after he saw Pierce rummage in their mentor's office. He had never seen his friend so pissed off before. Fury had gone dark ever since. Phil would have attempted to stay in the building and investigated what was going on but he'd been called to Peggy's office and had a conversation with Pierce asking him if he had seen Nick.

After that, he'd asked why they had stopped rotating personnel. Phil played dumb, his guts telling him to not answer. He was dismissed and then he was assaulted by one of Pierce's agents in the elevator. Phil disabled him, took his weapon and hightailed it to the parking lot and took his personal vehicle. Since then he grabbed one of his bail out bags that he kept in a locker at his bank. He was on the way to Texas with an off the book vehicle after abandoning his previous car.

Now he was on the road, swerving between cars, aware that Pierce and his mooks must have taken control of the New York SHIELD branch. Pierce was the SHIELD director of the Washington branch, and him being there was against protocol.

As he thought about the Hydra problem, Phil felt his car lurch and then fly into the air. He looked through the door's window as he kept gaining in altitude and the highway became a thin band under him. He didn't panic, it would not do anything; nevertheless he took his pistol from his shoulder holster and switched the safety off.

The passenger door suddenly opened and there appeared someone he believed he'd never see- a person he felt he failed. Her hair flew widely in the winds, on her face an impish grin blossomed. "Hi uncle Phil."

She looked different, older and more mature. The green costume didn't hide anything of her curvy yet athletic body. "Jean?"

He disapproved of her current get up, but it wasn't important. She wormed her way through the car and hugged him. After a moment, she released him, chuckling. "The one and only, huh… maybe not."

Phil filed away that little lapse in her dialogue and asked the question he cared the most about."You escaped?"

With a laugh and a hard stare, Jean flipped her hair and said, "I killed the guy and took his stuff."

Phil smiled, turning off the engine of the car. "That's my girl." His smile was proud and his eyes gleamed with something malicious. Phil reengaged the safety on his pistol and stored it in his holster, Jean was observing him with a smile on her face. He couldn't guess what she was thinking or how she'd found him but he wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. Phil completely ignored the fact that he was thousands of meters into the sky, he straightened the lapel of his suit, but as he made a mental inventory of his belongings he was interrupted by Jean who said, "You are on the run."

Phil leaned in his seat, he felt the car move, still following the highway. "What gave you that idea?" The agent asked, almost sarcastic.

There was silence for a moment before Jean dropped a bomb on him. "Pierce has Peggy. He is the Hydra high chief." She began to play with a lock of hair, looking straight into the windshield.

Phil could only say, "Shit."

He had hoped that just like Nick, Peggy would have escaped and avoided the net. Clearly, Pierce had come prepared for them...

"Language." Jean interrupted his thread of thoughts.

The agent gave her a tight smile, even flushing slightly. "Sorry. But what are we going to do now?"

"Now? Now, I'm going to bring you to my base. I have to get my friends and their families too though." Jean uncrossed her arms, and turned her head to him, gazing into his eyes.

Phil saw the hard age in the teenager that wasn't there a month ago. Not only had she matured but he believed her when she said she killed everyone who had made her life hell. Phil's expression turned serious. "We need to contact Fury."

"I intend to." Jean lifted her chin and a golden portal opened before them, Phil's heart skipping a beat as they entered it. After passing it they entered into some kind of hanger with strange flying vehicles inside.

The portal behind them collapsed on itself and closed. Phil exited the car and looked on around him in awe. There was an honest to god blimp here, and... was that a fleet of helicopters with coaxial propellers? And there was a… yacht?

"What's a boat doing in a cavern?" Phil asked out loud.

Jean, who had exited the car, laughed at him while shrugging. "Beats me, old Nath was a quirky guy."

The redhead walked toward an exit on the right side of the hangar. Phil was following her but swore deep in his heart that he would pilot one of those helicopters very soon. They ended up in a tunnel after passing the heavily armored door giving access to it.

"This is a sprawling complex." Phil observed as the corridors and tunnels turned in irregular ways. He even guessed that they were inside a mountain and not underground thanks to the holes in the tunnel walls that were more or less part of the ventilation system.

The young woman in the too provoking green costume stopped walking, turned to Phil and gave him an especially bright smile. "Yes, the security is shody too, you should have seen how easy it was to infiltrate and subvert the computers. I need to update everything."

Phil's eyes narrowed, he put his hands in his pockets trying to remember anything from Jean knowing how to do sabotage work. "Since when did you have training in infiltration, Jeanie?"

Jean raised an eyebrow at him, tilted her head and put a hand on her hips. "You want to know the truth?"

Phil had seen his girlfriend wear the same expression before and he stepped back, not wanting to fall into the trap of asking questions that might be dangerous. "You are not… obligated to do so." He took a hand out of his jacket pocket and waved nonchalantly at her. At least he tried to.

She grinned at him, confident that she could still appear unsettling to him."I trust you Phil, you deserve to be given information about the full scope of what I can do." Still, Jean threw him a bone. "We will do that after I get my people to safety."

Phil nodded. He was quickly led to what Jean had called the dormitories and was introduced to Hans her butler and her right hand called Chimera. All powered individuals. Phil and Hans stared at each other, evaluating the other man, gauging their own worth.

"Please boys, stop the dick measuring contest." Chimera piped up.

They were in the kitchen and Jean had disappeared in the same golden portal that had brought him here to go look for her family and friends. Phil sat at the bar with a stiff drink before him. Hans and Chimera were behind said bar, fixing food for tomorrow. The agent stared at the lithe blonde before him as she busied herself into dicing vegetables.

There was something familiar about her face- someone he had seen in his files. "Miss Chimera, you seem vaguely familiar."

She lifted her head, shooting him a sensual smile. "Woah, barely here and you are already pulling moves on me, Mister Coulson I'm not that easy." She pointed her kitchen knife at him and then returned to work.

Phil stood gobsmacked, not understanding how she'd come to that conclusion. She was certainly attractive, but wasn't his type at all. She seemed more childish than anything, with Jean's mental age; a teenager in a woman's body. Hans chuckled at his dumbfounded expression and returned to helping his colleague.

The agent was given something like a flat screen out of Star Trek that acted like a personal computer where he could consult the base's database. Music, movies and restricted access to the hangars and facilities. Jean had access to this technology and more it seemed, he hoped after everything was settled with their Hydra infestation that his surrogate niece would be amenable to exchanging the computer technology.

He discovered a file pertaining to the number of bases connected to this one and his eyebrows climbed to his forehead when he was made aware that there was teleportation tech available here, but its status was marked as offline. Now Phil understood how Jean's kidnappers had disappeared, he saw the potential of the technology and decided that he was going to have a conversation with Jean if she ever thought of disseminating it.

Phil took a swig of Whiskey but at the same moment another portal opened in the kitchen between the dinner tables and the bar. Out of it a person was thrown and slid to Phil's feet. The man was african american, wore a SHIELD uniform and a black coat over it.

"Fury?" Phil put his glass on the bar, his eyes not leaving the body of the man.

Looking up, the man wore a bandage over his head and hiding his right eye, it was bleeding. "Phil?"

The agent looked inside the portal, seeing a dark place illuminated by Jean's burning body. The fire disappeared and the portal collapsed. Phil shook his head and stood up, also helping his friend up from the wooden tiles.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Fury narrowed his good eye.

Phil helped his friend to sit on one of the stools. "Just like you, I was rescued by our favorite redhead."

"I was about to get killed by Pierce's goon squad and then she killed them all by immolating them."

The body of a black suited man wearing a helmet visor landed at Fury's side. Jean passed through the portal, and closed it. Her costume became an open backed carmine dress with black tights and ankle boots. A hooded winter coat appeared over her dress.

"Stay here, don't touch the body, I need to get my people." Jean clipped before disappearing in a shower of blue light.

Phil and Fury looked at each other. "Totally sandbagging us." They said in sync.

**# # #**

**Back with Jean…  
07:15 PM**

I appeared in the living room, and the first thing I could see was Sarah, my elder sister talking with someone. A SHIELD agent in a light armored uniform with tactical gear on his belt that I didn't recognize. I tried to read his mind but my half hearted attempt was rebuffed by something cold and machine like. I narrowed my eyes; this was one of the stuff those assassins had used against me to stay undetectable.

"**Fuck off."** I strongly pushed the suggestion in his mind.

The little box on his belt linked via cable to a headset, simply exploded. Sparks made the man flinch, burning the right side of his head and his eyes became glassy and he left through the door. I looked at Sarah who stared at the man doing exactly what I told him.

Sarah scowled at me. "Jean? What's gotten into you?!"

There was a hint of fear coursing through her as she saw an example of what telepathy can do. She walked up to me and made a move to grasp my left arm.

I batted away her hand, getting into her face and looking her dead in the eye. "Shut up, it's not the time."

Sarah stumbled back, afraid. "What?"

I put a hand on her shoulder and said with conviction, "We are in danger, go look for mom and the others. We are leaving."

She scowled, not used to me giving her orders and tried to argue. "But!"

I sighed. "Sarah, I am trying to save your life. Will you listen?"

Something in my expression must have caught her attention because she lowered her eyes and looked meek. "Okay." She gave in, her voice little.

Sarah quickly ran to the dining room. Meanwhile I began to pack everything valuable into Goldie like our clothes, our family portrait and photos albums. I took everything that belonged to us and left the furniture that was already provided when we came to live here. Even the kitchen appliances, the pots and pans didn't belong to us.

The first person I saw when I entered the kitchen was dad. He basically tackled me and hugged me to death. "Can't breath!"

Dad let go of me as he stepped back, but still held me by my shoulders. "Where have you been!?"

I smiled at him, then at everyone. "Well, I am going to show you, you are all going with me."

Julia was the first to react at my declaration. "Jean?"

I didn't want to have to explain everything again so I'd make it count this time. "Can I show you why we must all get lost fast?"

They looked at each other and then nodded. Wow, they truly trusted me.

Sarah, Julia, Mom and Dad closed their eyes and I brought them into my confidence, showing them through my memories everything I unearthed about the current modern Hydra. I even showed them what happened to Peggy. Mom and Dad's mood shifted and when I stopped, anger simmering in them; in contrast, Julia and Sarah were afraid.

I held my right hand to them. "Come with me if you want to live." I was serious.

Julia broke the tension, laughing. My parents looked confused as she did and Sarah simply massaged the bridge of her nose and scrunched her face. "Please no movie quotes…" She said as she thought out loud that I was a big geek.

I huffed. "Fine, I already packed all our stuff. Huh, the mashed potatoes and fine steaks I'm going to take them with us." I lifted all the food on the kitchen island in the air.

"Always thinking about what's important huh sis?" I rolled my eyes. Julia may be afraid but she could still be snarky.

With a snap of my fingers, a portal opened to my private kitchen in Egypt base. My parents and sisters looked on in awe at the spatial phenomenon. At the same time, I felt a spike of activity at the foot of the building. I felt the same cold and machine-like protections on multiple individuals. I punted their car into the air as if I kicked them myself. Through my awareness I felt them crash on the road, I took care of protecting passersby and other cars.

I shrugged, and then ushered my family through the portal and then once they were all safely in my base I closed the aperture. "Welcome to our new home!"

I put the food on the massive kitchen island. Julia had to rain on my parade with her comments. "Hm, it's not much…"

I turned to her, seeing that she smiled at her successful attempt at needling me. I pressed a clenched fist against my hip and said with a look around, "Well what did you expect? It's barely decorated but… still a modern kitchen, Lia."

My kitchen featured flat surfaces, geometric forms, and little ornaments. The dark tile floor, islands, or even butcher-block countertops could bring in the warmth of light wood. The numerous kitchen cabinets on the walls were full of kitchen appliances, table cutlery and spices. Sarah walked up to the immense fridge and oohed and ahed at the space inside. Mom and dad followed suit.

After they finished inspecting the kitchen, mom asked, "Where are our rooms?"

I stopped leaning against the island and answered her almost instantly, "I will bring you to the apartments, there are a lot of bedrooms, though the master one is for me, of course."

Dad and Mom glanced at each other, then back at me. It was mom who nodded, saying, "Of course."

I showed them the rooms they had access to, each of my sisters chose a room next to mine and my parents took the second biggest room. Then I immediately unloaded the stuff from the penthouse into the living room for everyone.

"You weren't kidding when you said you took all our stuff." Mom mumbled.

"I am better than a moving company!" I boasted with a superman pose.

My family laughed at me, Sarah patting my head like I was a child. "You are silly."

Hmph, they still treat me like a kid. "I guess… now follow me, I will bring you to Phil and Nick."

I took Sarah's hand and pulled her with me to the exit, dad and the rest following suit. He also asked about our two allies. "They are alive?"

"Yeah, though Nick lost an eye." I revealed.

Dad winced, mom's smile turned thin and Julia didn't sound concerned. We walked out of my apartments and took one of the tunnels leading to the dormitories. At the same time, I gave each of them a communicator if they are ever lost in the base. I think I should give them a plan of the base just in case. We quickly arrived in the common room's kitchen and dining room, only to see Hans mop the ground where I had dumped the body of that Hydra agent while Chimera was attending to Nick's wound.

I examined the ground floor, black tiles shining under the hanging lights of the common room. "Hans, where's the body?"

He glared at me, wearing his butler uniform and holding a mop in his hands. He looked frustrated with me. "You left a dead body in the common kitchen, do you have any idea of how unsanitary that is."

Everyone focused their attention on me, and I could feel a particular set of eyes behind that burned a hole behind my neck. I felt that it was maybe time for a tactical retreat. I made a show of looking at my watch and said aloud, "Oh, look at the time. I must go look for Jessica and her family."

Hans raised his hand and tried to stop me from leaving. "No, Jean stay-"

Too late; I teleported to my best friend's house. I found myself before the porch of the Jones' family. I sighed in relief, Hans could be rather intense sometimes; but he was right to, I shouldn't have left a dead body in the kitchen. Mom wasn't happy with me either… I shrugged, I will worry about it later.

_Knock. Knock._ I beat on the door. The cold wind that was bearing down on me didn't affect me at all. Then I remembered that to Alisa Jones I was still kidnapped and missing. I hoped that I wouldn't have to explain everything that happened. It was better to get them moving and let mom and dad do it.

I called on my friend, using the mental link between us. **Jessica it's me, come quick.**

**Jeanie?!** Jessica's mind voice called me out.

I knocked again, I heard shuffling from behind the dark wooden door that suddenly opened to reveal my best friend. She wore a dark blue pullover with another fairy knitted on it, black jeans with tears at the knee. Her feet were bare. Inside I felt the warmth generated by the radiator. Tucking a stray lock of hair behind my ear I greeted my friend. "Hey fairy, I've come to get you."

Jessica narrowed her eyes at me calling her a fairy. "Who's the fairy, **birdy**?"

Damn, I shouldn't have told her about the Phoenix. I raised my hands in defeat… "Okay okay, not the bird thing please…"

A foxy grin spread on her face, too smug for me to continue to suffer it. "That's what I thought. Huh, why did you come? We had a meeting this weekend and if Patsy sees you now she won't let you go, you know?"

I smiled. It'd been a while since I'd seen my number one fan but this wasn't the moment for that. "Well that's great, 'cause you are all coming with me, a rogue faction from SHIELD want to take all my friends and their families hostage to control me. Go pack your stuff quickly, we are leaving for Egypt base."

A spike of fear took root in Jessica but it subsided when she realized that I was there to protect them. Then she began to think what moving would also mean telling her adoptive mom about her powers and what they have been up to. "But Alisa and Brad won't want to…"

I met Alisa before, but that Brad guy? Never, he was almost an absentee father. I shrugged, hugged her and murmured in her ear, "Lemme speak to them."

She stepped out of my embrace, her voice full of determination when she said, "I will get Patsy to help." With that, she ran back into the house. I entered through the door and walked through the all white and beige decorated living room, following Jessica. I found that it was already 08:12 PM on the clock. Alisa and her husband watched as Jessica pulled Patsy away from the dinner table to go pack their stuff. Patsy looked at me, almost stopping, but Jessica forced her to walk. Their parents looked from them to me.

"Hi, Alisa." I waved at my friend's mom. She looked smashing in her T-shirt, yoga pants and slippers.

Her blue eyes widened in recognition. She stood and came to pull me into a hug. "Jeanie you are back? How? Where were you?!"

Her husband leaned in his chair, looking at us. "Who is this?"

Bradley Jones had black hair, and green eyes. He was wearing a white shirt paired with some comfy pants. I didn't know the guy and he was a naturally wary guy. A paranoid, he took time to open up to people, but once he did, he trusted strongly. A really private man who would do anything for his family. That's what my telepathy told me.

*Jessica could have got a really worse adoptive family, but she lucked out.* I observed in my heart.

Alisa introduced us. "This is Jess' best friend, I told you about her, do you remember?"

Bradley was thoughtful for a moment and then nodded. "Oh? Wait- wasn't she kidnapped?"

"Mr Jones, Alisa I need to speak to you." I said but I instantly detected people surrounding the house. SHIELD again…

"But it seems we don't have the time. You need to follow me to safety. My parents are already safe and they will tell you everything you need to know." I turned my back on them and walked up to exit the dinner room.

"Wait, Jean what are you saying? What do you mean we need to go to safety?" Alisa called after me, following me into the living room.

When the entrance door exploded, her question was answered. I kept the shrapnel from destroying the interior by holding it in place. The Hydra agents that were about to enter in force stood and I blasted them all with my optic blast. It wasn't enough to end them and I walked toward the door pieces and exited the house, fixed the entrance and repaired the door.

I looked at the agents on the ground, some already recovering or exiting the armored SUVs they came in. I held my hand before me and with a lifting motion, the agents and vehicles rose ten meters in the air. Some of them found the courage to aim their rifles at me and shoot but with a thought the bullets stopped in the air matrix style one meter from me.

*Hmm, I should be faster than that, what if these were energy bolts…* I needed training.

They kept firing at me even though their positions were precarious. I huffed and as a result I sent a disintegration wave at them. The bullets, their weapons, armor and vehicles were all vaporized. I found myself with very naked Hydra scum in the air, I let them fall ten meters to the ground, not caring for their safety at all. Those were all Pierce's agents.

I walked toward them, and approached the nearest who was still intact. I wasn't surprised when I recognized one of them. I had seen this face in the MCU movie, the winter soldier. "As I live and breath, Brock Rumlow."

"What? How do you..?"The confused man began freezing

He was powerfully built, his hair black and eyes grey. But he was at my feet, unharmed and vulnerable, I couldn't take him seriously. "Oh, I know a lot of things. Now, you were sent here to take my friends, right?"

Brock scowled at me, even though he was shivering. "I will say nothing."

Tilting my head, I couldn't understand what he just said, wasn't he told about me at all? "Who told you that you needed to speak? Your little toys to make me stop reading your mind don't work on me, and I just disintegrated it."

I felt terror spread through him. "We weren't the only team sent out…" He tried to intimidate me and press me so I'd make a mistake and let him go.

A tight smile appeared on my face."Oh, you sent some of them to Sensei, Gwen and… my **girlfriend**."

Rumlow was gaining in confidence. "We have leverage at this point, surrender and-"

I cackled at his bravado, then stared into his eyes. "You have nothing, you really think I would leave my friends and their families without defenses?"

He kept silent at this point, his ass freezing in the snow. I didn't intend to help any of these wahoos, their comeuppance was barely starting. "Now then, I suppose I could be cruel and torture you before I kill you, considering what you would do to my friends and their parents. But no… I guess I will just give you a message for Pierce; unfortunately for your friends behind you, I only need you."

There was a series of cracking sounds as I broke the other agents' neck. Rumlow looked behind him and at the unmoving forms of his colleague. "I guess you only need to be able to talk too."

In panic he turned his head to me and tried to negotiate, but I didn't want that. "Please no… don't-"

I crushed his legs and he screamed as the pain lanced through his body. "Don't cry, you did worse to others."

He was specialized in intelligence gathering and breaking people to make them talk. He had done far worse than I had.

"Now, I want you to listen to me."

His screaming persisted. I sighed and slapped him and numbed the pain for a moment, he stopped screaming, but the tears in his eyes and his mewling continued. "Listen to me." I said as I crouched and took his face between my hands. He nodded.

"Tell Pierce that he better run, because I am going to destroy his house of cards, little by little. He shouldn't have done what he did to Peggy or tried to take my girlfriend and friends. Capiche?" If Pierce ran, he would bring me to all his allies, and I planned to ferret and crush them all.

He nodded, still gazing at me in horror as though I was the devil or something. My smile was bright. "Good, now I must go do the same to your friends in the other teams. With luck I won't have to kill them like I did to your dead colleagues."

I got to my feet, looking down at him. "You are a tough guy, you won't die if I leave you in the snowed street right?" Rumlow didn't dare whine or move now. I looked around me and stilled the mind of the witnesses. They all stopped moving, I stopped the cars too and erased the mind of every gawking witness. I walked back into the house, seeing Alisa staring at me in fear.

"You don't have to be afraid of me, Alisa. They would have done worse to you if I didn't intervene."

She stayed silent, but dug deep for some strength to nod and allow me in. The house had grown cold. Bradley held a metal bat and a pistol. "It's okay Mr Jones, I took care of the problem."

"Alisa go take the go bag, we are leaving." Bradley said with a commanding voice. "And you Jean, you better have an explanation for all this…"

I turned to his wife. "Go take your stuff, I will send you to safety, okay?"

They went together to their bedroom upstairs, and ten minutes later, everyone was assembled in the living room with the girls having big suitcases at their sides. I waved my hand and opened a portal, Jessica taking all the large suitcases and entering first. Patsy followed after her. Their parents were more afraid of the unknown, but Mr Jones took his wife's hand and pulled her inside. I directly sent them to the common room in the dormitories section of the base. The portal closed.

I nodded then teleported to the foot of Cindy's apartment block. There was only one thing I could say, it was complete chaos there. Looking up I noticed that there was a big hole in the apartment's terrasse and I could hear people shooting at someone else. It was completely dark inside Cindy's apartment but the occasional flash of rifle fire illuminated the place.

Looking down, I stared at the bodies of the mangled Hydra agents at my feet. *She's having fun.* I levitated and entered through the hole and flamed, illuminating everything in the destroyed apartment. Weapon fire was suddenly focused on me, by controlling the magnetic force in a field the size of a basketball before me, I attracted the bullets to congregate in that single spot before me.

When the Hydra agents ran out of bullets I saw the camouflaged form of Cindy attack one of the men from behind and garoted him with web silk and broke his neck with a wrench of her hands. I sent the bullets back at the remaining shooters. They all dropped dead when I targeted their middles. I felt as their minds dissipated.

Cindy landed on the ground and tackled me; kissing me full on the mouth, I could feel her brimming with battle lust. We kissed for another one minute before we let go of each other.

"Hydra?" My girlfriend asked, I was never going to leave her in the dark and I told her as much as I could about what happened in SHIELD since I came back.

I nodded. "Hydra."

She wasn't in costume yet; she fought them in the dark and unarmored. I was guessing she didn't have the time to put on her costume. *That's a problem.*

"I will go grab my bug out bag. Can you heal my dad? He is with mom, she fainted from shock." I felt Cindy's emotions, she didn't care much for her mother, but she loved her dad and the man was still attached to the shrew. I asked myself why when she made the life of her daughter hell and piled unreasonable expectations on her shoulders.

"Okay." I shrugged.

Cindy pecked my cheek with a kiss and headed to her room. I thought about Nari Moon and decided that I would lock up my laboratories when I get back to base; I didn't want that woman's nose in my stuff. I walked toward the bedroom where they had holed themselves in. I stopped flaming and returned to normal. The door was barricaded, I rolled my eyes and moved the obstacles with my TK and opened it.

I was suddenly attacked by a seven year old boy, who was super cute in his He-man pajamas. I made him float, he began to struggle, and to avoid hurting him, I put him to sleep. I cradled the little boy, who is surely Cindy's little brother, in my arms and walked into the bedroom. Everything was disturbed inside, the closets, the furniture, on the bed there was a petite woman with a bob cut and in a lab coat; protecting her was a taller man with black hair and brown eyes, wearing glasses and clad in Captain America pajamas.

Activating my life-sight, I looked at him. His arm was bleeding, fortunately there seemed to be no artery nicked. He began to shake as I walked toward him.

"Hi, Mr Moon. I am Cindy's friend, I've come to help." I presented him with my best smile; after all I needed to make a good impression on my future father in law.

Albert Moon looked at me, completely tired, but he tried to stand up and take a threatening stance. "W-where's my daughter?"

*What a good guy, no wonder Cindy is so stubborn.*

"I am here, dad!" Cindy shouted from her room.

He crumbled back on his bed, a sigh of relief leaving him.

With my girlfriend vouching for me, I continued to speak, nearing him. "I have to heal you, then we need to get outta here, deal?"

Albert Frowned. "Heal?" He saw no first aid kit at my side or device.

*Ah, he is observant too.*

I walked up to the bed, put Cindy's brother down and put a hand on Albert. He flinched as I took out the bullet. As I examined it, I noticed that it was caseless. I shrugged and encouraged Mr Moon's body to heal his wound, my hand glowed gold for thirty seconds before the damage was undone. The man looked at me with trepidation as I casually healed him.

Albert stared at me as I took my hand back. "You are more than friends with my daughter, aren't you?"

Pleasantly surprised, I couldn't help but praise him. "You are a sharp man." I continued looking at him and felt the protective instinct of the man. "You care for her. You respect her boundaries and... she told you, she prefers girls. You never told your wife, why?"

At this point the man didn't question how I knew all this and rolled with it. He sighed and rolled his shoulder. He noticed how it didn't hurt anymore, his back pain that had been killing him for a while seemed to have been healed too. "I love Nari, but if there's something she is not, it's that she's not tolerant."

Albert continued, looking me in the eyes. "She is used to forcing her opinion on everyone… I am waiting for Cindy to move out and lose our number at any moment if my wife discovers it." He revealed as he stood up.

*If that ever happened, I would bring my girlfriend home and support her.*

I touched his arm in comfort. "Don't worry, if that happens, I will take her in. My parents like her and support us. In the near future, we are going to be family, soon." I patted his arm and then let go. Through my life sight I saw that he was fully recovered. "Okay, you are good now, can you go gather clothes and take your precious stuff, we are going to move."

Albert nodded. "Okay. Please, guard them well."

I smiled at him. "Of course."

Cindy and her father were even faster than the Jones', and came with at least one week's worth of clothes. Cindy was dressed in her costume, her father unable to move his eyes off her. I felt all his questions. I opened a portal to the common room and lo and behold I could see Nick and Phil from the other side, they waved at me.

"Go, Mr Moon. I will fix the apartment and-"

Cindy interrupted me as she put herself between me and her dad. "I will stay with her, dad."

Her father who had Cindy's mom in his arms frowned at her. "Cindy? No, you must come with us." His tone brokered no argument, but it didn't move his daughter at all, she was stubborn like that.

"No, I must help Jeanie." Cindy stepped back at my side and took my hand.

They looked at each other for a moment before her father understood there was no way he could make her change her mind. "Fine, but stay safe."

He walked through the portal and I made his son float through it, Phil making sure to catch him; then it was their go bag's turn. Then I closed the spatial aperture. Cindy chose that moment to tackle me again and climb into my arms, holding me tight with her legs around my hips. This was her display of gratitude for saving her family.

While I was kissing the hell out of this gorgeous girl, I repaired the place, disintegrated the dead Hydra goons. When we came up for air again, everything looked pristine. Cindy looked around her and smiled.

Then her face became serious, "Jessica?"

"Saved her and her family." I answered with confidence.

Even though she disliked Gwen, Cindy still asked about her situation. "Gwen?"

Spreading my awareness, I felt my favorite blonde to the east. I narrowed my eyes as I discovered that she was moving. "Let's go look for her, knowing her, she must have surrendered or something." I spoke, Cindy in my arms. I opened a portal in the air over the area where I felt Gwen, I wasn't surprised to find ourselves on the freeway, looking at the traffic.

I immediately zeroed-in on a SUV fleet tearing up the road at fast speed. Smirking, I covered myself and Cindy in a force bubble and flew at high speed and caught up with them. I landed on the road, one hundred meters from them and stopped the traffic and everyone beside Gwen and her parents. It seems they took them hostage to stop Gwen's rampage. She had killed some of them when they had stormed her house.

Releasing Cindy, we neared the vehicles and when I waved my hand, they disintegrated. Gwen took advantage of this and killed the guy next to her. She was still unable to control her strength, this needed to change. Cindy took down the lead guy who was about to fire his rifle at us, by wrenching it from his hand by shooting web fluid and rider-kicked him in the head.

The loud crunch I heard evoked a chuckle from me. We killed at least half of them before one of them got smart and put a gun on Gwen's dad temple. "Enough!"

"Surrender! Or he will get it."

"Well, well, well. Finally a smart squid. However…" With a gaze his weapon disappeared. Gwen's dad headbutted the Hydra goon with the back of his head, making him fall. I threw him one of my pistols and Captain Stacy caught it, took the safety off, pointed the pistol at the guy at his feet and began unloading the clip into him.

Meanwhile, Gwen was occupied taking care of her mother who looked shaken by that experience. We had no time to go to their house and take their stuff this time. I opened a portal and shouted, "Hey guys, enter the portal, I promise it's safe."

Gwen took her mom in her arms, floated from the ground and flew into it. Captain Stacy followed them and I noticed that he didn't care if it was dangerous. I teleported my pistol back to my hand though. Captain Stacy looked at his hands, then at me. I waved at him and pushed with a TK nudge in the portal, just like I did to Fury earlier and closed it.

"Who is left?" Cindy asked, snaking a hand around my waist and leaning into me. "Elektra Sensei."

Cindy snorted. "As if she wouldn't have killed all those who had come after her."

Well… she had a point. I created a TK platform under our feet and surrounded us with a force bubble and levitated us to the north where I could feel my sensei's mind. We didn't take a portal this time, but flew at high speed toward the dojo. Five minutes later, we were over the Gym's building our sensei lived in. We landed in the snow on the roof. Cindy and I looked at each other because it was too silent, we nodded and walked slowly to the Dojo's sliding door.

We could hear arguing from the dojo and Cindy was about to open the door but I stopped her. I pressed a finger against my lips, listening.

"Elektra, why did you kill them?"

"They wanted to take us and I had to protect Madelyn." The mellifluous and accented voice of Elektra rang.

I heard a male grunt. "Maybe… but- huh, wait there's someone."

*Of course fucking Matt Murdock is here.* The dojo grew silent and I decided to open the door. I wasn't surprised to see a billy club flying in my face. Cindy acted faster than me and caught it mid air.

"Good evening, everyone."

"Jean!" Elektra seemed happy to see me, because I was interrupting the rant Matt was slowly ramping up into. Cindy threw Matt's half of his club back to him, he took it from the air and then focused his attention on us.

Matt sightlessly turned toward me. "Phoenix, what are you… oh yes, you are part of the problem."

*Fuck you too, Matt.*

I crossed my arms, leveling him with a stare. "Whatever, I'm going to have to take Sensei with us. She's a target."

Elektra stepped back and looked reluctant. "Jean I don't think I can."

*Oh no you won't be left here to be a hostage that I have to rescue if Pierce throws everything at you.*

But I didn't say that, but expressed in a low yet reasonable voice, "Do it for Maddy, I already took all my friends and their families to my base. This is temporary, the guy after us will be…" I looked at Matt. "Dealt with."

I uncrossed my arms to poke Matt in the biceps. "And before you argue with me, Mister devil pants. The man is so highly placed that he can and will order hits on you. You better come too."

Cindy giggled, falling to the ground in fits of laughter. "Mister… devil pants."

Elektra smiled too, and Matt flushed. It was cute. "More importantly, Maddy is here, right?" I needn't ask, the door linking the dojo to Elektra's apartment opened and a red missile in the form a girl ran at me, deftly sidestepping the dead bodies and the blood on the wooden floor to tackle me.

"Oof." I almost fell on my ass there.

Maddy lifted her head, staring at me with glistening eyes. "Mother-"

I hear Elektra cough. Madelyn stopped speaking, and stiffened. "I mean big sister Jean." She corrected herself.

"Huh, that's new." I patted her head and hugged her back.

I looked at my sensei, discovering a gleam in her eyes that I couldn't identify. She spoke and this was with a tone brokering no arguments. "You are too young to be a mother, Jean. Instead, I made it so that she would only call you big sister."

I raised an eyebrow at that, looked down at the little girl in my arms, she looked chastised. *Poor little girl must have fallen afoul of Elektra's draconian side.* I realized.

I didn't really care what Maddy called me; we were blood. "If you say so, are you leaving with us? And is Matty coming with us?"

"Mister Murdock to you." Matt growled.

I looked at him, my voice sweet like honey. "Don't be like that, Matty. Did you forget how we met the first time? We exchanged fists, shouldn't we be friends and-"

He threw his billy club at me and I caught it with my TK. "Fine, Matt."

"Men, really." Elektra rolled her eyes at him, but she was smiling.

My sensei fell silent and I felt that she was thinking. Meanwhile I decided to help a bit and disintegrated the bodies on the ground, I didn't take any of the weapons, they were normal ones and I had no use for them. I disappeared the blood too and fixed the wooden floor. I did a lot of fixing today, but there's no way I would leave any of my people's houses in shambles.

"Are we going back?" Maddy asked sheepishly.

I caressed her head and nodded. "Well you and I, for sure."

Elektra was still deep in her thoughts with Matt's arms around her. He looked around not smelling the blood on the floor anymore. I needed to do something nice for the man, maybe I could give him back his vision, at least an enhanced one, I know that I can heal him.

Cindy poked me. I stared at her as she took off her half mask. "Jean, introduce us."

Maddy let go of me and turned to my girlfriend, not moving an inch and staring at her hard. I couldn't describe what she was feeling, but Maddy had no ill will toward my Cindy.

"Ah yeah… Maddy, this is my girlfriend, Cindy." I said.

Madelyn hid behind me, shy."She's pretty."

Cindy laughed at that, her eyes shining with mirth. "Wow, even another you wants to make a move on me huh."

I glared at her. "Hey, she has good taste."

Cindy blushed at that. I couldn't wait to get my hands on her later… She's too cute for her own good. I was interrupted again by Madelyn's question. "What's a girlfriend?"

Elektra intervened at this point and placed herself between me and Maddy. With a threatening gaze she whispered in my ear, "If I have to give her the birds and the bees explanation because of you, we will have some harsh sparring sessions, Jean."

I gulped at that, but my smile remained. "So that means you want to come with us?"

Elektra sensei nodded. "Yes, I cannot leave Maddy alone, Matt will come, only for a few days."

I could work with that. Matt and sensei returned to the apartment to take some stuff. The blind vigilante had half of his clothes in sensei's closet, practically living together with her. The only reason he hadn't moved in yet was because this was supposed to be a secret place. Not so secret, since Hydra or… SHIELD had discovered it.

Elektra and Matt came back to the dojo with two suitcases. Maddy went to Elektra and helped her with a backpack that was surely full of weapons and her kunoichi outfit. I secretly wanted one, but I don't think I could, I mean, was I even genin level in Ninjutsu? I planned to ask sensei later.

"Is everyone ready?"

There was a chorus of yes and ayes. I created a portal and once again it opened in the common room. This time Captain Stacy, Dad, Nick and Phil waited for us. Elektra passed first, followed Madelyn who helped Matt by pulling him by the arm. I noticed that he didn't snap at her at all. Cindy grasped my hand in hers and we followed suit.

After we passed, I closed the portal and went to sit on one of the stools at the bar with Cindy following me. Jessica was there too, waiting. I noticed that there were people that were missing like my mother, Chimera and my sisters. Mrs Stacy was there too, sitting at one of the tables with a mug between her hands while Alisa Jones was leaning in a chair before her.

"Hey Jess."

"Jeanie, you got everyone?" She asked, taking a swig of the pepsi can in her hand.

I needed to get Hans to disappear those; I am a coca person. "Yeah." I answered, still wanting to take the chair at her side.

Jessica flinched when she stared right behind me. "Errr, I don't want to alarm you but there's a clone of you behind you."

I turned and found Madelyn following me, looking at Jessica's pink hair. She waved at her, gave me a hug and then left. Jessica blinked, wiped her eyes and looked at her can of pepsi. "Did you roofie me?"

We looked as the young redhead ran to Elektra who was being given an explanation on what was happening by Phil and Nick whose wounds have been dressed.

"No, she's real. That's my clone, Madelyn." And a bundle of cuteness I really liked.

Jessica took another swig of pepsi, but realized the can was empty and cussed. "Shit."

**# # #**

**(Sarah Grey)**

**Dormitories**

At the same time, Sarah Grey was having a bad time in the allotted room of the Moon family. It all happened when Cindy's parents arrived and Nari Moon woke up. The woman was vicious and demanding. She wanted to return to their house, thinking that we had kidnapped her, even though her husband explained to her the contrary.

"Like I told you, we didn't take you from your home. If you had stayed, you would have been made into hostages."

"Then it's your daughter's fault that we are in this position, isn't it? Where is she? I have to give her my two cents!"

"You'll do no such thing you ingrate!" Elaine Grey scolded, interposing herself between Sarah and Cindy's mother.

"Who are you to try to stop me?" Nari was a foot shorter than Elaine who towered over her but upon hearing her you'd believe she was a giant.

Elaine shook her head, not believing how aggravating this woman could be. "It's my daughter you are talking about."

The petite asian woman smiled predatorily, her voice becoming deceivingly sweet as she said, "You should have kept her on a tighter leash."

Albert Moon, silent up until now, intervened by taking his wife by the shoulder and pulled her out toward him, then turned her to make her face him. "Nari, dear. Stop. You're being ridiculous." Albert continued with an ashamed expression. He couldn't believe his wife was doing this. "We would be dead or captured without them."

Nari lifted her hand, about to slap her husband. "Shut up Al, we-"

A strong hand caught her arm and in a low but threatening voice Jean said, "Is there a problem?"

Sarah's eyes lit up, finally someone came to put that woman in her place. "Ah Jean and…" The older redhead looked at the costumed black haired girl in a skintight black and white costume at her side. This was Cindy, her sister's girlfriend. She indeed looked beautiful and Sarah understood why Jean was so enthralled.

Nari found another target to her ire. "Cindy! Where the hell were you?!"

Jean released the woman's arm, while the costumed girl rolled her eyes, not even looking her in the eyes. So, her mom was a joke to the girl too; Sarah wasn't surprised.

"Helping my friend, mom, like I always do." She replied.

Nari scowled, her mom was about to slap her. "Don't take that tone with me!"

Cindy evaded the slap, and turned and ignored her. "Whatever. Jean you don't mind if I stash my stuff in your room?"

Sarah looked at her sister whose pose turned seductive and she purred, "My room is your room."

Cindy nodded. "Good." With that, she spun on her heel and left. Nari ran after her and shouted, "Stay there, Cindy! You…" With a hiss, the room's door closed and we couldn't hear the rest of the woman's sentence.

"Damn, I knew she was bad, but not this bad. Can I send her back? It would not be a great loss." Jean said out loud, not caring at all that the woman's husband was still present.

"I would take umbrage at it." Albert piped up.

"You know… you are still young and could do better than her." Sarah spoke, leaning against the wall of the room.

Albert looked down. "She's… not that bad."

Sarah watched as Jean put a finger on his chin and lifted his head. "Whatever, if she causes problems I'm booting her out in the jungle, relay that to her Mr Moon, is that understood?"

Jean was channeling their mom, it was exactly the same tone she took with the Grey sisters. The man had no way of resisting and nodded.

"Crystal."

She smiled at him and let go of his face. "Good."

Jean then took their mother's hand and Sarah's, exited the Moon's room and continued to walk wordlessly. Two minutes later they reached Hangar number one, Sarah who couldn't handle the silence spoke. "Hey Jeanie, what was that with Cindy's dad?"

"He is brave but that woman has him wrapped around her finger, and I think she's abusive too."

"What can we do about it?" Elaine asked.

Sarah walked as they passed a row of helicopters and some kind of armored Jeep. Jean stayed silent for a while and Sarah understood that her sister didn't know what to do.

"Nothing, at least not yet."

Elaine took her youngest daughter's arm in her hand and they stopped. "You don't plan on killing her?"

Jean's eyes widened, then turned to slits. "I don't think my girlfriend would like that, this is a slippery slope. Should I kill everyone who bothers me? I cannot fall into that way of thinking. I have responsibilities and-"

Their mother put a finger on Jean's lips to stop her from ranting. "It's okay, I was just testing you. I am happy to see that you aren't trigger happy."

They hugged each other. Jean spoke aloud and attempted to reassure her family. "Never, mom. It's okay if those people want to kill us or force us to work for them. But I won't kill people in cold blood because it would be convenient."

Sarah believed her; the girl might be a geek and crazy with everything happening to her but deep inside she had good within her. "I'm proud of you sis. By the way, where are we going?"

The youngest redhead let go of Elaine and smiled enigmatically. "Back to my lab, Julia and Patsy are waiting for us."

"For?" Sarah frowned, she didn't like that smile.

"You'll understand when we get here."

When they arrived two minutes later in the lab complex, Sarah was made to sit with Julia on medical chairs, their younger sister exploded into flames, then walked up between their respective chairs and she put her hands on them. "You two are going to become like me, I will activate your X-gene."

Sarah didn't want to, and was about to leave when she felt as if Jean was gripping the most delicate part of her body and she felt herself being infused with… something. And Sarah knew no more as her body seized and she fell into unconsciousness with the image of her younger sister's smiling face.

**# # #**

**(Alexander Pierce)**

**Cerberus HQ  
11:02 PM**

Pierce sat on Peggy's orthopedic office chair, it was comfortable and adequate. He swiveled it to the bay window behind him and looked at the people still gallivanting in the street and the vehicles passing by. He began to think about his hastened decision of wanting to secure leverage and get control of the Grey girl.

She'd turned up and killed his men with disconcerting ease, and there was the fact that some witnesses had come forward and explained that even her friends were as dangerous as herself. The girl disappeared with everyone she held close to her and their families and the message she left to Brock Rumlow after destroying the man made him _slightly_ concerned.

"Bring it on, girl. You will either work for us or be eliminated."

Pierce swiveled the chair back toward the desk, took his glasses and put them on his nose. "We will see who will hunt who."

**# # #**

**(Patricia 'Patsy' Walker-Jones)**

**Egypt base  
December 20th, 1996  
09:12 AM (Egypt time)**

Patsy felt amazing as she soared through the blue sky at high speed with Jean by her side. She felt so light, the sensation of feeling the wind on her skin in such a way was novel. She flew even faster when she noticed that Jean burst into speed. Patsy pushed her internal pedal and her speed rose, it was strange as at that precise moment she felt herself cocooned in some kind of energy bubble and the friction of the air on her skin simply disappeared.

With a big boom, Patsy went supersonic and caught up to Jean who looked at her while flying. The desert landscape stretched under them, they passed a flat rocky and arid plain, streaking at mach one under radar detection. To Patsy it was a blast till they reached a beach, it was beautiful with white sand and blue sapphire colored water.

Jean stopped in the air and looked far away; Patsy arrived at her side and looked on as her friend's eyes and hair glowed gold and she held her hand before her. The younger redhead didn't understand what she was doing and stood in the air like that for another five minutes. Jean finally lowered her hand and came back to normal, and exhaled a sigh of relief.

"Say, where are we?" Patsy straightened her braided hair and her current yellow and black skinsuit that grabbed places she wasn't used to.

But Patsy didn't protest about it as Jean was wearing a scandalous and skintight green costume herself. She didn't look uncomfortable at least.

Jean turned to her and with a wave of her hand as if she was showcasing said, "Northern Egypt, you see all that water? This is the mediteranean sea."

Patsy knew that their current base was in Lower Egypt in a secret valley thousands of kilometers away from there. "Wow, we must have gone really fast."

"Yes, I now know, you're around supersonic, but I'm sure that you could go even faster." Jean said in a way that filled Patsy full of pride.

She pushed her chest up and made an embarrassed smile. "I didn't expect that."

Jean came closer to her and put a hand on her cheek, making Patsy blush. "You should, I infused your body and soul with the two moonstones' power, they are now part of you forever and no one can take them away from you."

Patsy smiled at her friend, she indeed felt great, some kind of energy permeated her entire body, she was now as strong and durable as Jessica, could fly too, but faster, and she could now project some kind blinding luminescence from every inch of her body, or generate beam of light powerful enough to blow a hole in a steel plate. They had tested that earlier this morning when she woke up from last night's operation.

_**# # #**_

_**(Flashback)**_

_Jean took her hands off her sisters' bodies who had fainted and were now surrounded by a glowing golden haze on the medical chairs. When she looked at Patsy, her heart skipped a beat in excitement. She had been feeling left out when she heard from Jessica that Gwen got her powers before her. Patsy knew Jean first! And what's more, she wanted to fly in the sky too!_

_Jean chuckled and walked up to Patsy seated at the lab table. "Okay, okay Patsy just don't shout, I will give you what you want."_

_Patsy looked surprised at this comment. "Eh?"_

_The older redhead poked her forehead with a manicured finger. "Did you forget? Telepath."_

_Blushing, Patsy lowered her eyes in embarrassment. "Ah, oops."_

_Jean patted Patsy on the head, and smiled benevolently at her. "It's okay, darling, you are right, I should have begun with you. To apologize, I am going to give you a special package." Jean engulfed her in a hug._

_Patsy melted in her arm, then asked opportunistically, "Will I be able to fly?"_

_Jean let go of Patsy and grinned at her with a thumbs up. "Promise."_

_Crossing her arm and putting a finger on her lower lip, Jean began to think about something, then smiled as her face brightened after coming to some conclusion._

_Patsy suddenly felt cold; she was used to seeing that expression on her older friend, sometimes it's some hair brained plan of hers. Either they worked or they got caught doing bad things by Jean's mom and got punished. "What are you going to do?" Patsy asked with trepidation, there was a catch in her voice that made Jean turn her gaze on her and say with a crazy gleam in her eyes, "First I want you to get naked."_

_There was a long silence between them, until Patsy blushed and put some distance between them. "Errr… Jean, I don't swing that way…"_

_Jean rolled her eyes, got closer and flicked her on the forehead. "Ha ha, really funny. No, I need to get you naked for a good reason." Jean slapped the lab table she was on, signalling her to strip now._

"_You won't check me out, right?" Patsy asked in a little voice, she suddenly felt self-conscious._

_Jean was beautiful and confident, Patsy had sought to emulate her and try to become bolder, but it wasn't the same thing. When her friend had gotten kidnapped she had regressed into that meek and shy girl she was before meeting her. She also had body image issues as she thought she was too lanky and her breasts were on the smallish side._

_The taller redhead must have felt her emotion as she sat at Patsy's side on the table and passed an arm around her shoulder. "You are like, too young for me, and I see you like my little sister or something. Anyway, don't worry about being compared to the older girls in our group, Patsy, you are still growing, you'll become a knockout, I just know it."_

_There was such a feeling of certainty in Jean's comments that Patsy believed her. She smiled at her friend and nodded. "Okay."_

_Jean looked at her for a long moment, smiled back and added, "But if you ever want to __**experiment **__later when you are older…"_

_Patsy slapped her arm in outrage. "Jean!"_

_The older girl laughed and raised her hands in surrender. "I was joking!"_

_After this bout of ribbing between friends, Patsy took off her clothes and laid on the table. Jean went to take something in the warehouse attached to the lab while Patsy looked at the arched ceiling of the cave. She could see some kind of machine floating that started digging holes and… building support for the cave._

_Jean teleported with a flash of blue light at her side, making her jump, she held two pieces of pearl colored rocks that were slightly glowing._

_Patsy sat up, covered her privates with her blue t-shirt that was at her side. "What are they?" She asked as her eyes stared at the rocks._

_Jean made a little table float at Patsy's side, there was a tray on it and she put the rocks reverently on it and said with eagerness, "Those are Moonstones or more colloquially called gravity stones by the Kree, an extremely militaristic alien race, they live in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy that orbits ours."_

"_What do they do?"_

"_I don't understand yet what those two stones are used to power, but I can tell that their energy signature is really peculiar. But if there's one thing I know about them, it's that when they are absorbed by a human, those stones take the form of energy that permeates their nervous system and infuse them with abilities such as photokinesis, super strength, speed, stamina, durability and agility."_

"_And flight?" Patsy piped up, her eyes shining with longing at the Moonstones._

_Jean nodded, a smile tugging at her lips. "Yes you'll be able to fly, darling."_

_Patsy attempted to take the stones from the tray, but Jean batted her hand away. The younger girl looked at Jean with betrayal and asked, "Huh, why?"_

_There was a forbidding expression on Jean's face. "Don't touch them, there's something you need to know before using those."_

_Patsy held on her hand, it hurt a little. She glared at Jean for that. "What?"_

_The stone began to float from the tray and orbit around the two girls; then Jean began to explain herself as Patsy seemed to become hypnotized by the stones. "As they are now, they are dangerous for their host. If the stones are removed from your body, you'll die in seventy hours without their support as your body would have gotten used to them."_

_Patsy reeled back, looking at Jean with horror. "What the hell? Why would you give me those?"_

_Jean stared at Patsy. "Because I want you to have unique powers, I basically made Jessica and Gwen about the same. And I told you what might happen if they are taken, because that's what happened to their owner in another reality."_

_*Another reality?* Patsy thought, *How could Jean know that? Was she able to look in other dimensions? Like in the enterprise mirror universe in Star Trek?* Countless theories passed through the younger redhead's mind until she dismissed them all and blindly settled on trusting her friend. "If you showed them to me," Patsy said as she pointed at the floating stones. "... then you must have a way to make them safer?"_

_Jean's smile was dazzling; with a nod she then answered her friend. "You know me so well, huh."_

_Patsy shyly nodded back. "Yeah."_

_Jean's body caught on fire, it momentarily blinded Patsy who shielded her eyes with her hands. Once her eyes got used to the radiance, Patsy looked at her friend and stared in awe at her. Jean's voice gained an echo as she explained what she was going to do. "I'm going to have to make your body able to generate a similar energy to those pieces of special rocks. Turning you into a variant of mutate, similar to what Jessica and Gwen have become. Then I will turn the stones into pure energy and add them to your being." Jean put a hand on Patsy who began glowing into a yellow aura. "Your essence."_

_The young girl looked at her hand and the rest of her body glowing in yellow color, then back at fire clad Jean. "I don't understand." Patsy confessed._

_Hmph. Jean decided to explain what she thought about to do. "Well, as your body will generate this energy itself no one will be able to take it from you. And if you ever die and I resurrect you, you'll have your power again. Or in your next reincarnation, you'll still have your powers. Do you understand?"_

_Patsy nodded and looked widely at Jean as she realized the implication of what her friend said. *She can resurrect the dead!?*_

_Jean nodded at that shouted thought. "Yes I can, but there's a price for it. Nothing is free, in this universe."_

_*Of course there's a catch.* Patsy rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her breasts. "I will take your word for it."_

_There was an awkward silence between them, the crackle of fire their only companion for one minute as Patsy couldn't take her eyes off Jean. She wished to be like her, powerful, confident, beautiful and not a burden._

_Jean exhaled and a gout of fire escaped her, weirdly it didn't burn Patsy who asked herself what those flames were made of. "Okay. Now, I will put you to sleep and when you wake, you'll be a metahuman, just like the rest of the troupe."_

_Patsy acquiesced, it was time that she fully got inducted into their little group. "I trust you, Jeanie."_

_The smile Jean gave her made Patsy question her sexuality, she felt butterflies in her lower stomach. "You have no idea what having you as my friend means to me, Pats." Jean put a hand on her cheek and said with a crack in her voice, "Thanks for your trust."_

_Patsy grinned, then laid herself back on the table, looking at Jean who put herself at her side and her flaming hands on her naked belly and breasts. "You'll be like a new girl, when I am done with you."_

_The world steadily went black as Patsy lost consciousness._

# # #

Patsy raised her fist, it glowed with a white aura around it. Yes now she was able to shoot laser beams from her fist or blind people with her luminescence, she still didn't understand how to control everything. But flying? She had that covered. Lifting her head she looked at Jean, who was waiting for her to say something.

"Thank you."

"Your welcome, Pats. Race you to the valley?" Jean grinned, surrounded herself in red psionic energy and simply became a blur as she flew back to the south.

"Hey that's not fair!" Patsy shouted as she followed and gave everything she had.

**# # #**

**Back with Jean…  
Egypt base  
10:02 AM**

After having tested Patsy's new powers, I checked on my sisters. They were awake and helping in the dormitories. Sarah passed me by and wasn't speaking to me, as she didn't like not having a choice in becoming a metahuman. It was different with Julia who strangely completely embraced this part of herself and was playing with a ball of plasma, making it orbit around her while manipulating gravity to stay aloft in the air.

She waved at me with a goofy smile on her face as she saw me pass by into the common room, I waved back. Julia looked between me and Sarah who was still cleaning the tables, ignoring me. She shrugged and returned to training her abilities. I huffed, fine. If she didn't want to speak to me, I would not either.

So I went to look for Gwen and Peter, I quickly located them with my empathy. I found them in a hidden alcove whispering things to each other animatedly. Peter kneeled before her and had an imploring gaze. I hid behind the wall and spied on them. *Eh, she's making him grovel.*

Peter held his hands together before him and pleaded. "Please, please Gweny. This will not happen again, I swear."

There were fake tears in Gwen's big green eyes as she said plaintively, "You have been such a douche… we might have to-"

Peter took Gwen's free hand into his own and became fearful of her continuing that sentence that he caved without a fight. "Please give us another chance, I will do anything… anything."

There was a sly glint in Gwen's eyes as she knew she had him now, he had taken the bait, and now it was time for her to reel in her prey. That girl is a pro in mind games… Gwen sniffled and wiped her tears and looked at Peter with an appraising gaze. "You were so bad… but, I guess I can forgive you, if you promise not to treat me like that again and if you help me train my super powers."

Peter sprang back on his feet full of hope. "I can do that! I promise, this... this won't happen again Gweny!" He shouted.

Gwen allowed her pouty lips to form a smile. "Good, and promise me one more thing?"

Peter's happiness became like a lighthouse to me, this was almost blinding in intensity to my empathic sense. *Oh, Stan Lee. He looks like a puppy.*

"Anything!" Peter said, I imagined him with a dog tail eagerly beating left and right. It made me laugh silently behind the wall.

Gwen hugged him and said in his ear, "When you need help, ask us, okay? Just don't do things yourself."

Peter froze, then hugged Gwen back. "I don't want to become like that guy, so you can be sure of that…"

Gwen pulled her head out of the crook of Peter's neck and looked into his eyes. "Who?"

"It doesn't matter Gwen, come here." Peter delicately pushed Gwen against the wall and kissed her as if he was a dying man.

The blonde held tight on him and kissed back. They were french kissing like professionals, the wall began to crack behind Gwen as the two became more… forceful. I frowned and decided to interrupt the two lovebirds.

_Cough_. "Hey guys, be careful with the real estate." I said in a peppy voice, uncharacteristic to me.

"Aaah!" Gwen screamed as I surprised her. She let go of Peter and began to levitate. As for Peter he turned toward me with a really frustrated expression. I felt as if he was setting me on fire in his mind, even if he could I was immune to it.

"Jean, we are busy right now." Peter tried to not get angry.

But he failed when I grinned at the two of them. "I can see that."

He glared at me and made shooing motions. "Yes, now leave. Shoo."

I flipped my hair behind my back, and feigned being sad. "That's too bad, I wanted to show you two my lab with all that research in the database and maybe get you new costumes and make some gadgets for yourselves."

Gwen looked stricken, she wanted to keep kissing with Peter, but she also wanted to look at the research of a mad scientist. "You… evil!"

I tried to avoid cackling like a witch and adopted an innocent demeanor. "Me? I am clearly the chaste and pure angel in this situation. You, kissing devils."

Gwen landed and sniffed, not at all convinced of my sainthood. Peter looked at me with disbelief; then couldn't help but shout, "As if you are any better, you barely take breaths when you are with Cindy! It's as if your tongues were welded together!"

"Yeah! Don't throw stones when you live in a glass house!" Gwen looked up her nose at me.

I shrugged, "Well… I guess I will invite Jessica and Cindy if you are too busy licking tonsils." I turned and feigned leaving only to be caught by the shoulders by Gwen who held onto me as if I was a lifebuoy.

"Wait! We didn't say anything about refusing!" The blonde held tightly on my body, afraid that I would leave.

Peter looked at his girlfriend, feeling a tad betrayed. "Really, Gwen?" He hoped to 'lick tonsils' like I said earlier, I knew those two were barely at the second base.

Gwen glared at him. "Shut up Pete, let me do it!"

The poor boy stepped back, then shook his head, looked at the ceiling and mumbled, "Women, can't live with them, can't live without them."

I chuckled. "We can say the same about guys, Pete."

He looked like a kid who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "You heard that..."

"Duh."

**# # #**

I brought them to the lab complex and gave them the combination of the keypad protecting the entrance. I really needed to buff up security because this simple measure wasn't enough to protect my stuff. I guess I will have to update everything after I get Peggy free and return to New York. I set Peter with a manual on the 3D printer, and let Gwen access the research on bioengineering and biotech.

She sat there, scrolling down and using the keyboard as she seemed completely enamored by what she was doing. On my tablet I could see what she was consulting, mainly the medical scanning devices and the research primer on nanotechnology Sinister was working on. I left her to her own devices in that section of the lab.

I teleported to Peter who was gathering tools in the engineering sector with a loony smile. I didn't bother him, just watched what he was taking, mainly materials to make circuit boards, one of the sturdy laptops and a multimeter, things to build devices with a lot of electronics inside them. Shrugging I placed myself at another table and decided to start making my own armor, but first, I need to synthetize more Vibranium.

With TK, I made the gold and iron ingots that I had refined come to me, I kept them in the air and placed one heavy bar before me. Goldie gave me one of the sound metal samples and I looked at its atomic structure before I touched the iron ingot with a finger and transmuted it into Vibranium. I smiled, it was another success!

I proceeded to do the same for half the iron ingots, five hundred kilograms of sound metal. I stood up and went to the next room to draw my new costume on the white board covering basically the entire room. Taking the black felt pen, I started drawing an outline of the layer of the armor that I would make out of vibranium tri-weave.

"First I want an impact layer, something like a layer of heat-resistant kevlar? But it's bulky… what about designing a micro-fiber variant?" I wrote this on the whiteboard.

"Secondly I want it to be able to follow my motions and body perfectly." I wrote 'Musculature mobility layer' on the board. "Hmm, maybe the chestplate for this one.

"What about something for low infrared signature and temperature control?" My mind drew a blank, I still wrote the option on the board.

I grew out a throne of the cavern's grey stone in the middle of the room, adhering to my body's forms, crossed my legs and looked attentively at the whiteboard. The chestpiece I had in mind needed something hard and able to distribute the kinetic energy of an impact by dissipating the force over an area larger than a bullet. Iron was no good, titanium? Yes, it might work with a mix of vibranium/Titanium alloy. "Nanotubes? No, Nano-scale!"

I stood up and began writing on the board, drawing schemas and a formula for the vibranium/titanium as I saw it in the quantum realm at the subatomic level.

Gauntlets? Segmented ones with bracers like Diana? Might work, now for the lower body, it should be the same, than for the chestpiece. Armored and particularly thick for the boots? That works. A utility belt? *Yes I need one.* It should be like Batman's but I intend to have things for every occasion.

I was ready, now all I needed was to design the suit.

**# # #**

**(Cindy)**

**Lab Complex  
02:25 PM**

Cindy had had enough of waiting! Jean had been holed in her lab for hours and she brought Peter and Gwen with her. She entered through their shared bedroom, and took the tunnel leading to the lab complex. Sounds of machinery echoing all the way. As she entered through the reinforced door; amongst all the structural reinforcement builder robots she saw as materials and tools floated in the air, moving to the central part of the lab, the forge.

*This is some serious Mickey apprentice sorcerer's shit going on here.* Cindy thought as she navigated between the flying ingots bars, pliers and some kind of cutters.

She finally found Jean levitating five meters in the air and building a soft layer of circuitry that she inserted into what was looking like an armored bustier. Jean turned her head toward Cindy and smiled, she continued working for another five minutes and hollered, "Done for now!"

Jean straightened herself in the air and descended, the cuirass she was working on landed first on her workbench with a _plop_. As she landed, Jean wiped her forehead and walked toward Cindy, avoiding the mess on the ground. Cindy admired her for a long moment, Jean wore a tight green tank top with a cleavage window that attracted the eyes and a black skirt and brown combat boots; then head Cindy shifted her head and looked at the red and gold futuristic cuirass. "You are working on your costume?"

Pushing out her chest, Jean smiled and said proudly, "Armor actually."

"You aren't an armor girl, Jean…" Cindy facepalmed as she couldn't believe Jean would make that mistake. She preferred her girl in the green and gold suit that she had shown her.

Jean crossed her arms and pouted at Cindy. "I will be."

The black haired girl shook her head and embraced her girlfriend, putting her arms around her neck, and Jean who hugged her back gave her a peck on the lips. Cindy was sure that Jean wouldn't ever get mad at her for shooting down her armor idea. "You always make your life more difficult than it should be."

Jean slid her hands to Cindy's flank. "I guess… but I will make mistakes and live with them. That's what life is all about, you learn each time you stumble and fall."

Cindy held on tighter to her lover and became thoughtful about what she said, if Jean wanted to make mistakes and learn from them, who was she to stop her? All she could do was be there when she stumbled and help her get back on her feet. She looked up and saw a smile blossoming on Jean's face as she was reading her like a book.

They disentangled themselves from each other and Jean pulled Cindy to a stool and sat her on her thighs. "So what brings you? It's not that I mind your presence, sexy. But I thought we had a date tonight?"

Cindy laughed, then her pink lips curving into a smile she said, "Jean, you missed lunch and your mom was quite _disappointed_."

The asian girl took delight into watching her girlfriend getting scared. Her smile dropped and she looked nervous to Cindy.

"Oh." Jean said as there suddenly was a bit of sweat on her forehead.

Cindy grinned. "Yeah, oh."

The redhead asked in a panicked manner, "Did she meet Maddy?"

Cindy sighed, she escaped the madhouse in the dormitories and had come looking for Jean to put order to the situation. "Your mother is fighting Elektra to spoil Madelyn. Your mini Me is quite overwhelmed by all this attention from your mother and sisters."

Jean's smile came back with a vengeance. Cindy was stunned by the casual cruelty she was subjecting her clone to. "I have some time then, I am almost done with the different pieces of the armor. Peter is working on communicators we will use and Gwen is cataloguing everything in the computer. Oh wait! I have something for you!" Jean stood up with Cindy still in her arms.

Cindy was carefully womanhandled and put on the ground on her feet while Jean zipped at superspeed to another workbench to grab a suitcase.

Jean put the case on the workbench at Cindy's side, and with a _clack _opened it. From the inside, Jean took a long glossy bandanna with spiderweb patterns that was strangely formed like a lower half-mask. Jean handed it to Cindy who took it and began her inspection; it felt stretchy to her fingers, but she couldn't deform it even with all her strength. "What is this?"

Jean smiled and pointed her finger at the bandanna. "This! Is a half mask filter that I embedded into a new bandanna for you. It's a self-cleaning electrostatic precipitation system that allows for full Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Filtration."

The redhead took out a black belt with grey pouches attached to it, there was a 'S' symbol on it as well as a little metallic tank. "With this compact oxygen tank that I attached to your new utility belt, it also has an eight minute compressed air capacity, which helps in underwater situations. Of course it is optional to put on."

Cindy followed Jean's explanation so far, it was like she was in a James Bond movie and Q was explaining how the spy gadgets worked. The dark haired girl couldn't help but smile at Jean showing off, but it still bothered her that she was doing all this instead of working on her own stuff. "Jean… even when you do stuff for yourself, you get distracted into making things for me…"

"Well, it's difficult to stay on target for me, I mean if I think of a thing that could allow you to survive, I am going to build it for sure."

Cindy's heart melted at this, she took Jean's hand in hers. With half lidded eyes she asked. "Be a bit more selfish."

Jean sighed, and embraced Cindy again. She smelled her hair, kissed her forehead and whispered into her ear, "I am being selfish already, I want you to be safe."

The two looked into each other's eyes, and Cindy nodded. "Okay."

Their lips then smashed together and time didn't have any meaning anymore as they gave into their feelings.

**# # #**

**(Gwendolyne Stacy)**

**30 minutes later…**

She watched as Peter was drawing his new costume on his workbench, this time it wasn't what she had thought, he didn't return to his red and blue costume. It was more like a silver armor and helmet over a black suit. A spider with a solid silver shell. Peter was writing notes of what the costume should be able to do, Jean has offered to build a suit for him made of the same wonder metal fiber as Cindy's.

As he finished his sketch and put his pen on the workbench, Gwen looked from the drawing to Peter's face and asked, "Are you sure it's what you want Pete?"

Peter nodded and stood from the stool, Gwen followed him to the scanning machine, he put the sheet with the sketch of the armor into it and answered his girlfriend. "Yeah, I had to think really hard about it. I kept coming back with bruises or wounds; and even if I have powerful regenerative abilities, it hurts. It forced me to lie to May, I don't want to continue on the path I've been on."

Gwen smiled, happy that Peter wasn't simply coasting anymore and finally used that consequent intellect of his. "I see."

Excitedly Peter continued, "I came up with another web shooter delivery device and a long range communication system that I forwarded to Jean for approval."

*Ah so that's why he asked me about looking for a model in the database.* Gwen's eyes sparkled with realization.

A smile slowly spread on her face and she put her hands on Peter's cheek and said, "You listened to me. You know that she's going to give it to all of us."

Peter blushed, avoiding the intense gaze of his girlfriend. "Y-yeah… if I ever need help, I know that you girls will come now."

"You bet we are!" Gwen then proceeded to kiss the hell out of him and Peter gave back as much as he got, and slipped a hand under Gwen's black top and elicited a moan from her making him wanting to do more than some heavy petting.

Things were getting hot between them before Gwen stopped kissing him as she heard someone moan. She held Peter's hands down with her super strength. "Huh do you hear that?"

Peter was getting frustrated, it seemed that his girlfriend was clearly stronger than him. He didn't like it when something was cockblocking him too. "What?"

Gwen tilted her head. "Its- come on, we will see what it is about." She pulled her boyfriend toward the exit of the computer room and followed the noises. They were coming from the secondary room in the engineering sector adjacent to the forge.

The materials that were previously floating in the air were on the ground and it became almost impossible to navigate with it cluttering the way. Fortunately, Gwen could fly and helped Peter fly over the stuff blocking the way by holding him firmly against her body.

Peter frowned. He was clearly hearing it now. "Okay. What's this? Weird… moans?" The more he heard, the more he realized what it was and wanted to tell Gwen to not go further but it was too late. Through the door they could hear what was clearly going on.

"Cindy, yes yes yes! Don't stop!" Jean's voice keened.

Through the little glass window in the door they could see the blurred form of the two naked girls on a workbench going at it.

Gwen looked at the blushing Peter who averted his gaze. "Gweny, we shouldn't be here…"

To his dismay, Gwen was blushing and basically pushing her face on the window, she looked excited. "A-are they having sex?" She asked, interested by what was clearly happening as she looked at Jean's form and Cindy whose head disappeared between their friend's legs.

Peter tried to pull Gwen away but he could barely move her as she stayed unmoving. "Yes. Now let's get out of here before they notice we are here!"

"Ahn!" Peter blushed even more as he heard the passionate cries. Gwen simply couldn't understand why her boyfriend wasn't more eager to listen. She wanted to see how those cute sounds coming from their normally goofy and amusing redheaded friend were made. Somehow all of it made her blood boil and her lower body moist for… something.

*Yes it's-its for science, yes!* Gwen convinced herself. She nodded to herself.

Gwen turned to Peter and asked him with a sly smile. "Huh-uh, don't you wanna watch?"

The blush on his face was suddenly replaced by a fearful expression. "I don't want to get killed."

Gwen frowned, Jean would certainly get angry if they interrupted her, but she would also get away with it by simply making a cute face and apologizing. She knew that Jean had a weakness for her, some lingering... sexual attraction that the little blonde kept exploiting. "Coward." She called Peter.

Peter whispered, "No, I have a healthy sense of preservation." He found the strength to make Gwen pull away from the door. "We are their friends, and friends don't do shit like that to each other." Peter looked her in the eyes meaningfully.

Gwen deflated and realized that she was being a pervert. "Fine." She floated and took Peter's hand, then they left.

"YESJUSTLIKETHAT!" The reverberating voice of Jean was the last thing they heard from the closed room they got away from, making Gwen blush.

**# # #**

**Back with Jean…  
December 21st, 1996  
04:12 AM (Egypt time)**

I opened my eyes, the first thing I see being the vaulted ceiling of my bedroom, the second was Cindy at my side sleeping on my numbed left arm. A smile spread on my face, and I hoped to wake up like this more often. We had our date last night, we went to France, while Hans and Chimera went to replenish the foodstore for the base.

We went to the Disneyland park and to a fancy Italian restaurant in Rome. Portal creation and manipulation is a seriously awesome power to have; the Earth is basically becoming a playground to me and giving me date options out of this world. Everything was worth it, last night I could literally feel that Cindy's feelings deepened for me.

The only thing that didn't go as planned was the situation with my family. I tried to bring Sarah and Julia to have a good time and as a show of apology but my elder sister rebuffed me, Julia didn't go because she didn't want to be a third wheel in Cindy's and my date. I would fix this. I regretfully disentangled from Cindy and exited the bed.

Looking at myself, there wasn't even a stitch of clothing on me. I shrugged and looked at the black throne in the middle of the room covered in bags full of clothes that we bought. I walked up to the throne and placed the bags on the ground and sat on it.

"**Welcome User Jean Grey."**

"Hello computer, can you show me Wakanda?" I asked politely, even if it was a shard of the main computer in Mongolia, I didn't want to disrespect it. I crossed my leg and waited.

"**Complying."**

A map of the country was displayed on the holographic map before me, contrary to the MCU version, Wakanda wasn't protected by a holographic shield or some such. It's not efficient enough and wasted energy. No, what was before me was a multi level underground kingdom, located next to Lake Victoria and surrounded by Mohanda, Canaan, Azania and Niganda.

Of course there were cities on the surface to show that they were still modernized, such as Birnin Azzaria the fake capital and Birnin Bashenga and the excellent subterfuge that was the network of villages and towns spread all over the territory. To the world they were a nation of farmers that are situated in the Alkama Fields, and fishers on the shores of Lake Victoria; that their economy was also supposed to depend on major resources including uranium, coal, diamonds.

What the computer was showing me was that those isolationists had a city comparable to New York State underground with an extensive Maglev network and the most powerful airforce on the planet with their ships.

"They are going to become a problem." I had created contingencies in case I needed to bolt from the United States, and create my own country in Africa if I must. But would Wakanda not feel threatened once I really get going?

Their technology was vibranium based and their computers nigh unhackable with the technology currently available. I wanted it, desperately, I wanted their ship technology, their material science, computers and communication too. "And I need to do something while Phil and Fury are rallying the SHIELD people they trusted for the big clean up."

As I watched my holo-screen, I completely understood that the Wakanda that the computer was showing me wasn't the one from MCU, made to look pretty and idyllic. Those people were like normal people everywhere. Worse than American, they were pretty nationalistic and proud of their Wakadan identity and easily dismissed people from other countries as primitive and never does well.

This once and for all proved to me that Humans were stupid, however advanced they were; I chuckled at that and continued to scroll down, looking at what the Wakandan did to their environment… for example there were more blatant and hidden technologies used by them such as the techno-organic jungle. Those people have managed to merge vibranium technology and the organics of a jungle to create a benevolent techno organic virus that allows nature and machines to live in harmony.

If I remembered correctly, T'Challa used it to fight the Fantastic Four and the Panther Goddess Bast. *This was dangerous, how could they? What if it spread beyond their valley?*

Fortunately for me, someone interrupted my musing as they turned dark.

[_Decision_: Network Creation.] The voice of my favorite symbiote rang in my head.

I was so happy to hear her that I hugged her mentally. "Oh, you finally answered, my Goldie. Though you are unable to breed yet…"

When she will be able to, I will have to choose a good person for her progeny's host. Not some random dude, or Peter. My eyes fell on the sleeping Cindy. *Maybe her.* I smiled, aware that it's going to be tough to convince my girlfriend of bonding with a Klyntar, she had seen what happened to Peter.

"How long do I have till you are ready?" I wanted a timeframe to prepare, because Goldie will have to separate from me to give birth.

[_Accuracy_: Three cycles around the star.] My symbiote answered, she felt anxious.

"And you will be able to do it safely, right?" I caressed her mentally, responding to her feelings. She was safe with me, nothing untoward would happen to her.

My symbiote purred in my mind. [_Acquiescence_: I certainly will be.]

I laughed. "Excellent, now that you are less distracted, Goldie we are going to raid somewhere, are you in?"

[_Doubt_: Killing?]

"I will try not to, it's bad for us lately." I said as I thought about how I had become rather trigger happy with my power lately.

After this tête-a-tête with my Klyntar, I used the throne again and sought out the position of a certain Vibranium thief. The man lived in defiance of the powerful nation, practically living on their doorsteps. The position of his base of operation was registered in Sinister's computer for me to find. He was going to be my distraction and ticket to enter Wakanda.

Once done with the throne, I left a note for Cindy, telling her what I was going to do. For once I will make it fun, I won't take him through overwhelming power but teamwork. I needed Chimera, Arclight and Regan. I teleported to the showers and proceeded to my ablutions, I was quick and at the same time instructed mentally Chimera to ready a helicopter and bring Regan and Arclight for deployment.

**# # #**

**(Regan Wyngarde)**

**Hangar 1  
05:15 AM**

Regan walked with trepidation into the hangar. She had been trying to avoid meeting Jean Grey as much as possible but fate kept conspiring against her. The young woman had succeeded in renewing her friendship with Philippa, it hadn't been easy. She is utterly loyal to Jean Grey, but strangely she kept a healthy fear of her.

She veered right from the second aisle and she was in sight of one of the weird helicopters with ducted fans with coaxial propellers. Chimera was readying the bird, Hans was loading the door mounted weapons with enough cans of ammunition. Regan could see that the missile pods were loaded already and on the left pedestal of the helicopter, some kind of machine gun was mounted.

Philippa turned and saw Regan walking toward them, she raised her arm and grandly said, "Ah! The princess is here!"

This made Regan stop and roll her eyes. Then Hans stopped what he was doing and narrowed his eyes at her. "You are late Regan!"

When Chimera finished checking the helicopter's systems, she exited the cockpit, looked at her watch and said, "The boss should be arriving at any moment." She was wearing the standard dark blue tactical armor that the clone soldiers used.

Philippa was wearing the same, they looked relaxed and prepared. As for Regan, she was a ball of anxiety; she envied their personal zen. "You… guys, how aren't you afraid of her?" Regan asked as she tugged at the tight tactical vest she was wearing.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at her. Philippa had a sniper rifle in her hands, Hans had just finished loading the machine guns and weapon doors. Chimera was the first to answer her after looking at everyone who was hesitating. "Well… she saved me from slavery."

Hans piped up, "She's not that bad, she's just another girl."

Regan looked at them as if they were brainwashed or crazy. "Right." She looked down and kicked an empty can.

Philippa broke the awkward moment by walking up to Regan to give her the weapon in her hand. "Here Regan, I got you one of the special rifles."

The black and silver rifle looked fancy, and strange, the magazine was located behind the trigger group, it caused the overall length to be reduced. Regan weighed it, it was lightweight, she looked in the optical sight attachment, it had a 20x magnification, forward grips, flashlights and laser sights. Above the grip, there is a selector switch with two modes: safety and fully-automatic.

Regan looked up at Philippa with an eager expression. ".50 Cal capable?"

The purple haired amazon smiled and crossed her arms, her powerful biceps visible. "Yes, you are going to be our ace for the operation."

Frowning, Regan asked, "What are we going to do?"

Philippa shrugged, she found herself regretting now having skipped the mission planning given by Chimera. Hans helpfully enlightened them. "Raid someone's base. Some Belgian entrepreneur called Klaw."

"She's fixated on the base invasion lately…" Chimera piped up as she checked her gear now.

Hans laughed. "Her usual M.O."

In a flash of blue light, Jean Grey appeared. "Hey guys, I'm here."

Everyone jumped and turned behind themselves, to see Jean Grey in a peculiar gleaming red and gold cuirass that bore a gold shaped phoenix and a matching golden utility belt, reinforced black pants and knee-high armored combat boots. There was a black choker on her neck with some kind of device passing for jewelry.

"Damn, you startled me!" Regan shouted, she had almost let her rifle fall.

Jean put her fist on her hips. "Aww, sorry Reggie." Her grin was infuriating to Regan.

"Don't! Don't call me that." The blonde exploded.

The redhead tilted her head, and in a cold voice asked. "Who pissed in your wheaties this morning?"

"Argh." Regan stomped away with her rifle and climbed inside the helicopter. Behind her Regan heard the voice of everyone saying.

"Huh what did I say?"

"Boss…"

"What?"

**# # #**

**Back with Jean…  
Republic of Mohannda  
07:12 AM**

Mohannda, was located next to the technologically advanced nation of Wakanda. Ulysses Klaw had based himself there, bribing the local government to not advertise his presence to the Dogs of War, the secret police of Wakanda. His base was located literally between their borders in the jungle, the camp under his control seemed to be built inside a hill where he stored the wonder metal.

In Sinister's note, it's written that he defended it through local mercenaries that he outfit himself. It seemed that he also had a Wakandan contact that fed him routes of shipments coming from the Mound that he successfully seized. He sold some of the metal to everyone who could buy. Vibranium went for ten thousand dollars per gram.

The helicopter was actually silent, I liked them. I hope to find a way to commercialize them later… I was in the pressurized cockpit, in the copilot seat, I turned my head and watched as Chimera was piloting and following the route to Klaw's camp on the onboard computer.

"Hey, are we there yet?" I asked in my most annoying and whiny voice.

I've been trying to annoy Chimera for the two hours it had taken us to travel from lower egypt to Mohannda. The Samson helicopter was fast and silent, could bear heavy load and could fly well in thin or thick atmospheres or in extreme temperatures with minimal maintenance. It was capable of long range travel thanks to the fusion batteries feeding into the engines. I had finished reading the manual already and I was bored.

"No." Chimera growled.

I grinned at her and was about to ask again, "Are we…" She stopped me by throwing an ectoplasmic construct in the form of a band of duct tape plastering on my mouth.

*Eww!* It felt icky!

Chimera glared at me. "I will throw you out of the copter if you finish that sentence." She waved her hands and the green gooey band dissipated but not her gaze on me.

I looked away and shifted in my seat and said with mulishness, "Fine…"

Five minutes later we arrived at the camp, we were at five hundred meters in altitude and began observing. The hill was surrounded by a ten meter high fence with barbed wire along the top. Tall scouting towers were placed at the cardinal points of the camp. There was a well travelled road leading to the bush and to the mountains that vehicles could take.

"I'm going to have a closer look, please guard my body." I looked at my blonde subordinate who was focused on flying.

"Sure boss." Chimera answered with a mock salute and a smile.

I nodded, leaned in my seat and exited my body with my astral form. I dived to the hill, phasing through the Samson, I noticed right off the bat that there weren't a lot of people in the camp. *A skeleton crew?*

There was barely any organization and cleanliness in the garages, the kitchen and outside armory would have made the quartermaster in SHIELD cry.

Still the people here were armed and willing to kill anyone wandering near the camp, the snipers in the towers were a sign of that. This was a mixed crew of local and hired mercenaries, some were utter scum with no training and Hammer tech assault weapons. It made me laugh for a long moment before I realized why. Klaw wanted them dead and used them as cannon fodder.

The hired foreign mercenaries had military training and way better weapons and there was even a support staff of mechanics and a doctor. As I spied in the camp, I decided to explore into the hill. As I phased through the heavy armored doors, I noticed how the state of the installations inside differed from outside. The walls were white and pristine, there was a storage space comparable to Hangar 1 in Egypt base, dormitories with all the western luxuries available and a lab!

I couldn't access the computers but I could read the random notes and research paper that were strewn messily in the main laboratory space. The schematic showed me that this device that is being built here was basically a loudspeaker that generates sound waves from electrical energy able to convert sound waves into physical mass?

*Impossible to do without…*

"So that's why he needs Vibranium." The metal is sound absorbing. Contrary to Vibranium B, the Wakandan variant absorbs vibratory or kinetic energy in its vicinity within itself. Its energy-manipulating properties were multiple. Ideas on how to adapt the technology shown here filled my mind, I could ideally turn this into a weapon, but it could also be used in the demolition sector. Even some medical tools.

I intended to kill Ulysses Klaw when I came here, but I see now that it would be a waste. The man was clearly a genius and it wouldn't do. I looked up and returned to my body with a thought. Opening my eyes, I found myself in the Samson's cockpit again.

"Welcome back." The chirpy voice of my second in command rang.

I shifted in my seat and looked at her, a smile blossoming on my face as I told her, "Change of plan. I want Klaw alive. This is how we will do this…"

**# # #**

**(Ulysses S. Klaw)**

Returning From a successful raid on the convoy from The Mound, Klaw was satisfied and cheerful. They had been raiding those convoys for a while now thanks to their contact. He was lucky that there was a political faction in Wakanda that was against their isolationist policy. They gave him information when to attack, the routes of the lightly guarded shipments or when those shipments were a trap to get him.

Klaw whistled _Flight of the Bumblebee_ as his driver turned right and they were finally in sight of their camp. He stopped whistling and chuckled; he finally had enough Vibranium for his project and maybe introduce it to his government. The transducer would be able to disintegrate matter at full power, he could already see how war would change with such a weapon!

His plan was simple, he intended to introduce the weapon and show everyone how it was made and reveal the wonders of Vibranium. People would want to know where he found so much of it and this is where his goal aligned with the anti-royalist faction, it would force the Wakandan government to show their hands! To negotiate, they were mighty but not invincible! And the truth about them would be laid bare to see.

*I am vindictive like that.* Klaw smiled savagely, showing teeth.

His smile was still splattered on his face when the head of his driver exploded in a shower of gore, the large old style 4x4 he was in lost control, veered to the left and crashed into the large trunk of a Baobab tree. Fortunately for him, Klaw had his safety belt on and the windshield had collapsed forward, avoiding breakage.

"Hnng." Klaw opened his eyes, his vision blurry, he looked around himself and saw that he had crashed into a tree. When his vision cleared, he noticed that his driver was dead, that his right arm was broken and that he should be getting out of here.

His men, God bless them, circled his vehicle with the trucks and other 4x4, using them as cover and prepared for another assault. Some of them were already extracting him from the crashed 4x4; Klaw asked himself if someone inside the base was trying a powerplay and trying to take him down for the Vibranium. One of his men brought him the suitcase where he stashed his prototype sound transducer.

"Sir, what do we do?" A tall black man with a buzz cut, an up to date green flack jacket and matching armored pants, asked. He was the leader of the mercenaries, he held the nose of his rifle toward the ground and kept watching around him for the enemy, ready to burst into action at a moment's notice. Klaw suddenly gathered everyone's attention around him, but they still stayed wary of their surroundings. He looked at all of them, they were seemingly demoralized and skittish. The meaning of being sniped somewhere they should have an advantage wasn't lost on them.

Their base was a write off. Without it they were just a band of mercenaries roaming the wild. The kind that get talked about in the news raiding poor villages, raping and stealing. As he watched, Klaw could read the intentions of some of his men in their eyes. "We cannot leave! All my Vibranium is there!"

"But they will pick us off like fish in a barrel!" The man who addressed him earlier walked up to face him and shouted, only for his head to explode too and splatter everyone around in a shower of brain matter, bones and blood. He dropped to the ground like a felled tree.

The mercenaries all scattered to the woods at the same moment, some were shot and cut in two by the sniper firing at them.

"Shit!" Klaw immediately laid down on the ground and crawled under one of the trucks. He estimated that the weapon firing at them was powerful enough to do him in; he didn't want to end up being meat for the lions. Klaw was a survivor and he will be damned if he was going to get killed like a dog! With his Sound Inducer in his good hand he slowly crawled out from under the truck and took the direction of the woods toward the river.

He would find a way to get back at those wahoos taking potshots at him! Smiling devilishly, Klaw crawled to safety until something weird happened and all the trees around him were uprooted into the air and his position as well those of his men was revealed. There was some kind of whispering sound in the air.

Klaw looked up, it was some strange helicopter with two big propellers. "What the hell is that machine?!"

The helicopter, because Klaw couldn't call it otherwise, turned to the side and the door opened; two big mounted heavy machine guns swivelled in their direction.

Klaw's eyes widened. "Oh fuc-"

RATATATATATATATATATATATATA. They opened fire on everyone that had been hiding.

"That's not fair!" Klaw raised his good hand to the sky and shouted. The man raged against the machine, even fired his sound transducer at it, but bounced off some kind of shield! Some of the leftover mercenaries fired back instead of fleeing but were swiftly disposed of by the sniper from earlier.

When everything settled and everyone around him was dead, Klaw found himself staring at the helicopter. He asked himself why they didn't kill him yet.

"Why?"

As if to answer his question the helicopter was landing vertically before him. He didn't flee, and he didn't see the point of trying, they could snipe him now with the clear plain that was created; the trees were still in the air. Out of the door, a redhead in red and gold armor exited, she looked young and a complete knockout. She levitated toward him, not touching the ground.

Her face was locked into a neutral expression that chilled him, her eyes glowed gold without visible sclera. But Klaw didn't care! This was clearly the big boss that had decimated his awesome outlaw base! And she was one of those powered freaks that he sees running from time to time here. *What are they called again? Mutants?*

The neutral expression on the redhead's face turned to a stormy one. "Ulysses Klaw." Her voice echoed everywhere as she pronounced his name.

*That's spooky.* She looked at him as if she could read everything he thought.

Her eyes stopped glowing and emerald green orbs appeared, with sclera and everything that makes a human eye human. "You are not what I imagined. I'd thought you'd be taller, less pathetic."

Klaw put his good hand on his heart and feigned looking hurt. "That's too harsh!"

A creepy smile tugged at her lips that chilled Klaw to the bone. "I guess it is time to give you the hard sell." She said as she raised a hand and pointed it at him.

Klaw let go of his transducer and raised his arms, even the broken one. "Wait, wait sheila I call foul!"

The beauty frowned at him and lowered her hand. "Huh?"

With an eyebrow raised she stared at him as if he was ridiculous, he sure felt like it. She seemed to have powers that could shred him like toilet paper. He didn't want to become a statistic!

"I mean, I am just back from a raid and I don't think it's fair that you come to raid a raider when he didn't even get a chance to enjoy his spoils!"

"Huh, so what? Should I let you go or something? Too bad for you Klaw, I've come for that booty."

Klaw nodded, standing up with difficulty while holding his broken arm. "Exactly! Errr, I am of course buying my life with the Vibranium! It's what you want isn't it?"

The redhead looked at him with disbelief. "Vibranium?"

Klaw pointed toward one of the overturned trucks and said, "Yes the wonder metal, if you have come to me, it's surely for this, right?"

The Belgian scientist was known in the criminal underworld for being the ready source for Vibranium. Rich CEO, Military General, and even that Wahoo in Latveria. Everyone wanted to please him, just for-

The sound of laughing interrupted him. It was the redhead. She laughed and laughed. Then she looked at him as if he was completely pathetic. "That shit is lying around everywhere for anyone who wants to look for it. Wakanda isn't the only source. It's in abundance in this solar system. No, Ulysses. I didn't come for the sound metal. **I came for you.**"

Klaw stepped back when the eyes of the young woman glowed gold again. He placed his good arm in defense before him. "Shit, sheila. I am flattered, but you are a bit young for me, so I will have to decline."

There was a long silence between them after that, only broken by the redhead landing on the earth before him. "Klaw, do you want to continue your life like this?" She opened her arms grandly and watched around her, the overturned vehicles and the field of death made up of his dead mercenaries.

She continued. "Do you want to wallow in the bush and pass your time raiding primitive cowards who will eventually get passed by other countries sooner rather than later?"

*Damn, the girl got a point.* Klaw had always found it weird that the Wakandans weren't a major force in the world of today. But the more he had learned about them, how they allowed the resources of this continent to be pillaged by every big country out there in the world and treat it like their backyards and enslave its people it had made it impossible for him to respect them. He looked down on the Black Panther who prided himself to be honorable and good.

His father may have been a Nazi and a Hydra scum, but he wasn't, everyone deserved to live and thrive. Klaw looked up and said, "I agree that it's not optimal… but I have a plan!"

She grinned as if he was being ridiculous. "The anti-royalists? They will betray you. Do you think they don't know where you've holed yourself up? All they are waiting for is the completion of their agenda to take you out."

*How did she know?* Klaw began to sweat at the thought that his plan could have been so transparent, that his revenge against T'chaka and his brood would never be accomplished.

But still, he wanted to live to see the day he'd have the satisfaction of revenge. He stared at the girl who seemed to just see through him. Maybe it was one of her powers. "That…"

She came closer to him and whispered, "You know I'm right." Then she floated back. "Klaw, to convince you to join me, I will let you in on a secret."

This was it, the end of her speech. What would determine if he lived at the end of this hiring speech. He couldn't help himself and sprouted with bravado, "It better be good, sheila."

Her smile chilled him as her entire body wreathed into flame and the screech of a bird rang into the air. The flame took on the form of a colossal firebird, a predator, no, a raptor. "You don't have to become a pawn in Wakanda's political arena. If you join me, you won't need to depend on them for Vibranium… after all, I can make it."

The redhead stomped on the ground and a ball of Earth at least two meters in diameter raised from the ground turned to stone, then to iron and finally it became a silver ball with a familiar sheen. Klaw stood there transfixed, until he walked up to the metal ball, took a big rock from the ground and struck it against the floating ball.

_**GLING**_. It rang in the air for a long moment, the sound metal, vibranium. He looked with wonder at the redhead, no, the Goddess. "Sign me up!"

"**You have chosen wisely."** Her voice echoed again. Klaw wanted to bow and pray, but he understood right away when she narrowed her eyes that she wouldn't like that. He would pray to her with one of his favorite mixtapes.

"Bahahahaha. I am a smart man, dad always told me that. Hum. Anyway, could you heal this, please." Klaw showed his broken arm.

The flaming young woman rolled her eyes.

**# # #**

**(Phoenix)**

**Heliopolis  
Bast's Palace**

Gaea and Bast were laughing, pointing their fingers at the crystal balls. They were laughing at Jean having made her first believer, a fanatic who kept wanting to bow and scrape to her. I rolled my eyes, even in all my years of observing people, I found it to be a rookie mistake and it had to be my avatar, my other self who did it.

I huffed. "Ladies, it's just a-"

Only to be interrupted by Bast slapping her thighs in laughter. "This is hilarious. She is gathering cultists without even trying!" She was a tall dark skinned woman, with richly ornate braids; she wore fancy jewelry full of magic and some kind of bikini armor.

I sighed, then watched as Jean was storing all the computers and notes of Klaw inside Goldie while he looked at her with wonder. It was embarrassing! Jean has been using her Phoenix aura all over the world to wake up the comatose people after the extermination of the sublime, since then a church about her had sprung up in Japan, Korea, France and the UK, strangely they didn't disseminate in the USA yet.

I let go of my anger, and decided to not let the growing pain of my avatar mess with my mood, here lay danger. Instead I let the wonder of Celestial Heliopolis uplift my sense of beauty. We were in another dimension named after the city of Heliopolis on Earth, it was the size of the moon but a closed world reminding me of how bountiful and green egypt was before its climate change six thousand years ago. There was a representation of the Nile and the Mediteranean sea, Bast's Palace was actually on the Northern coast of Lower Egypt in this dimension.

When the Ennead, the Egyptian gods themselves left Earth to live in Celestial Heliopolis, they brought with them their servants and children. It wasn't rare to see mermaids or divine beasts running amok in this version of paradise.

"Your Avatar is amusing, but even so, her future is bright." Death's voice rang as she looked at Jean enacting her plan to enter Wakanda.

She was transformed into the pale skinned and black haired representation of Lady Death from the comics. Gaea or Bast had nothing but praise for her for her new fashion. The theme of today was undies or bikini armor with a good showing of their favorite weapons. If there's something I learned by hanging out with those two is that Gods have really weird priorities, such as who is the strongest or who still has the most followers. Bast was one of those who lamented the state of affairs of her current followers who worshipped her but didn't follow her will.

I had met Bast, the Panther goddess after the Sublime extermination while Jean was remodeling her base in Egypt, a brief fight had happened in the higher planes, but Gaea stopped me from killing Bast by asking really nicely. Since then we have become friends and they invited me to Celestial Heliopolis all the time when I wasn't busy.

"I am still working on her, she's still stubborn." I replied.

Jean was difficult to stir in the direction I wanted to point her. But she was beginning to understand the clues and follow the breadcrumbs I kept leaving for her.

"Will she be able to help my granddaughter?" Gaea interjected.

She was a gorgeous woman, endowed with supernatural beauty and grace, it was kind of difficult to pin her ethnicity as she is used to changing it each time I blinked. Fortunately, her hair and physical features changed with the seasons. Right now she had dark skin, white hair and blue eyes; she was tall and really endowed. Gaea wore some kind of drapery barely hiding her body and jewelry made from raw ore like gold, silver, marble.

Gaea oozed power, she possesses great mystical powers of an undefined nature. Even for me, our domain actually overlapped and I found myself drawn to her and she knew it.

I looked her in the eyes. "We made a deal, she helps reform the Panther nation and its people and you give Jean free reign to do things around the solar system and convince your son to not _interfere _too much with her."

"Yes… but he has noticed her and has become... intrigued." Gaea's averted her gaze, this was not normal for her. She wasn't used to lying, but Immortals and Gods always found a way to cheat you by using semantics or omission.

I couldn't blame Gaea, she had no control over Amun-Ra, the sun God. "I hope it's in a friendly way…"

Gaea smiled sheepishly this time. My eyes fell on Bast who was watching with rapt attention as Jean flew in the sky with her Phoenix aura free and headed for Wakanda. The blocky form of multiple cargo containers followed her as she flew.

Bast looked at the crystal ball excitedly and her black panther ears stood at attention, as well as her tail. "Oh, it's already time! Look at that, we need to prepare for the descent. Honored grandmother would you accompany me?"

Gaea gave a patronizing gaze at her granddaughter and stood up with grace and majesty. "I certainly will, there's a quest I wish to bestow on Phoenix' avatar."

The two disappeared in a shower of light and stars. The laugh of Lady Death rang in the room, she was laying on the sinfully comfortable sofa in a sexy pose that made me want to take her right there. But I resisted her appeal and shouted at her with a stomp of my flaming foot, "Death don't laugh!"

Death made a plate of magical berries float to her. "Poor Jean will become an errand girl for those two if you are not careful."

Gaea was always in search of protectors for herself, she has allied with me because I promised to offer her protection and to educate the humans into caring for her. This was clearly easy to do, the metahuman community on Earth would be in charge of such.

I nodded to my counterpart. "I will put my foot down if they push too many responsibilities on her, but she was already in the process of fixing Gaea's physical body. So, I will let those two have their fun."

Ghostly hands touched my flame body in reassurance. "I will be there to cheer you up and rant." Death put a berry full magic in her mouth and moaned in pleasure. "I should have come here sooner." Lady Death mumbled with a happy grin.

**# # #**

**Back with Jean…  
Wakanda  
09:55 AM**

I overlooked the valley. It was beautiful, more beautiful than my own; I now understood how those housewives got competitive over their gardens. I wanted my new base to be as awesome, I may not like how Wakanda treated everyone, but they sure knew their stuff! Maybe I could learn from them? *Hmm?*

There were fast approaching aircraft coming toward me. They were fast, sleek and unmanned. Measuring at least 5.50 meters, those black and silver fightcraft -because there was no way those were civilian ones- seemed highly maneuverable combat oriented fighters. Their engine exhaust shined with blue and I guessed that it was some kind of ion reactor powering them.

With a thought I stopped them in the air, but they still fired on me, their directed energy weapons didn't even scratch me as I absorbed it. I took out my Celestial scanner and looked at the option on the holographic screen, the boxy silver device answered my mental commands and began scanning the drones who started shooting missiles at me. I stopped them too, and deactivated them by breaking their internal mechanisms.

BEEP. **Scan complete** appeared in my mind, causing me to smile. The schematics, loadouts, components and atomic structure of everything about those fighters appeared in my mind and was stored in the device, I sent a command to it to deliver a back up to the computer of the black throne.

Reactive armor, isolinear onboard computer, Twin Ion Engines, Ion cannons, close ranged sensors linked to the formidable Wakandan communication network, all of this awesome tech was fuelled by a compact Fusion reactor. I whistled, and stored the Celestial scanner inside Goldie. With only that I could have just left and come up with new technology. But I wanted more, so I unleashed my aura and flew toward Birnin Zana, the Golden City.

But I destroyed the fighters first by disintegrating them without a care, my heavy burden, containers full of Vibranium and something special followed me at a sedate pace.

**# # #**

**(King T'Chaka)**

**The Golden City  
10:00 AM**

Today was supposed to be a great day! Today was supposed to be the day he passed on the mantle. The tribes had gathered, his son was ready to fight against any contender for the rule in their traditional ritual combat ceremony. But this day was marred by the attack of that despicable thief! But no, Ulysses Klaw wasn't a common thief at all, he was a sponsored one, the Dogs of War had warned him that rebellious elements in their country were helping him.

"I didn't believe them at first, but now I have to agree…" King T'Chaka said aloud in the throne room.

At his side was Queen Ramonda and their daughter, Shuri. Their son T'Challa was pacing furiously. T'Chaka didn't begrudge him his ill humor, as two times the ceremonial fights were interrupted by an alert.

On the giant holographic screen, the old king watched as the mass of peculiar fire in the form of a bird arrived in the skies of the Golden City, this phenomena had been identified last week, and even with all the science and their knowhow, Wakanda's scientist could barely guess that it was someone, an entity who was the cause.

"And it is now coming for us." It was floating over the cities, not exactly darkening the skies, there should have been a shadow or at least extreme temperatures, but there was none of that. The chief-scientist present with them in the throne room was constantly checking his tools, Kimoyo Card and Beads to stay in contact with the scanners all over the city.

"Yes it is, husband." Ramonda replied to his voiced internal concern.

"Father, it has destroyed our drone fighters! I say we retaliate!" T'Challa cried out, interrupting the King and Queen.

T'Challa stood topless with his pants and sandals before the throne. King T'Chaka stood and descended the dais putting his hand on the naked shoulder of his son and started to speak."Son-"

Only to be interrupted by the impetuousness of his youngest, Shuri, T'Challa's younger sister, opened her mouth and protested. "We shouldn't do such a thing! It hasn't attacked us so far, we were the first-"

Ramonda held onto her daughter who was struggling and wrinkled her traditional royal dress.

T'Challa looked stubbornly at his father. "Too late I already sent the order." The young man nodded with a satisfied expression on his face.

At this moment, T'Chaka almost throttled his son. "What have you done!?" His face turned white. They didn't know what that creature was, it was folly and his son may have doomed them all!

Before he could countermand the orders, T'Chaka watched as the City's defense activated, Ion cannons powerful enough to take down a mountain individually deployed from hidden locations and fired after charging. The immense explosion struck the firebird and it disappeared behind a cloud of dust. The strange energy that had been detected by the scanners had completely disappeared. T'Challa smiled with satisfaction and said, "Problem solved."

Shuri who had not stayed idle, as she took control of the scanners and came up with an algorithm that boosted their range and sensitivity. Her eyes opened wide as she noticed that the energy was still there and just on cue it flared and burned the scanner as it quadrupled and this time the Firebird was bigger, covering the whole valley.

It screeched a cry that rang inside the ears of each and every Wakandan. Their defenses were disintegrated by the same red wave of force from a week and a half ago. Throughout the country, the Ion cannon defense grid was obliterated, it shouldn't have been possible. But King T'Chaka was a pragmatist.

**PANTHER KING, COME OUT. NOW.** A woman's voice screeched in their mind. T'Chaka didn't know it at the time, but everyone in Wakanda heard the firebird call him out.

"Husband." Ramonda looked on with anguish at her man.

Shuri looked at her brother with blame, he had fired on something that even their most powerful weapons couldn't do anything against. T'Chaka closed his eyes, the action of his son had the potential to destroy this country; he looked at T'Challa who looked simply livid.

"I will go." The old King simply said with a movement of his hands the Dora Milaje guards appeared from behind the pylons supporting the throne room.

T'Chaka resolved to go there without weapons or the Panther habit. An instinct that he couldn't trace was telling him to present a humble and pious disposition before the entity. T'Challa placed himself between his son and the exit. "Don't father. I-I will go in your stead."

"You have done enough, my son." T'Chaka dismissed him.

"I am coming with you." T'Challa muscular frame tensed as he looked ashamed, he couldn't even look his father in the eyes.

"I am coming too father!" Shuri announced.

"Absolutely not!" Ramonda's answer was instantaneous.

The little princess turned to her mother and raised her voice. "I am a part of the Royal Family, this is my duty!" Shuri looked defiant and when her mother didn't do anything to stop her ran to her father's side.

T'Chaka looked on fondly at his daughter, and compared her reaction to that of her brother. One is a warrior, the other is a scholar. He loved his children, they were talented and had started relieving him of his burden to help him and their country. What more could an old man like him ask for? So that was why he accepted Shuri's presence, the same instinct from earlier told him to.

The old King turned to his wife and loudly said, "If this entity decides to attack, wherever we are we will all die, my love."

Ramonda gathered her robe's layers of fabric and sniffed haughtily. "Then in that case I am coming too."

T'Chaka closed his eyes, then nodded.

**# # #**

They were out of the palace and already on the path bearing the King's name. They stopped and looked in the sky and it was simply terrifying to contemplate the size and power of such a being. He didn't know how he guessed it, but when they came into the middle of the path the form of the firebird contracted and a column of fire descended on their position.

The Dora Milaje that had come with them unarmed surrounded the royal family with their bodies and waited for the inevitable collision. But after a long moment, nothing happened, instead standing there ten meters from them was a woman wreathed in fire, she was of average size, a perfect balance of athletic and muscular, her facial features were asian, and her eyes glowed gold; her scarlet hair simply flew everywhere in the air. She wore a red and gold armored vibranium breast plate, armored black pants with the same shiny sheen and boots.

She looked like a warrior, her musculature let you guess at it.

Everyone stood transfixed as nature simply took a life on its own around her, as if a miracle flower sprouted from the earthen path and blossomed and grass grew green and thick. Thick trees grew at the same time forming a grove around them. T'Chaka looked around him in wonder, Shuri laughed, however, Ramonda and T'Challa were still wary.

"Igama lam nguPhoenix kwaye ndingathanda ukuthi, molo. (My name is Phoenix and I'd like to say, hello.)" The woman, no the divine being (?) said in perfect Wakandan.

She continued in their language, "However, I am not happy at all. I have come in peace, but two times I have been attacked in your land. For such a slight I should unleash my wrath upon you." Her fiery hand raised, crackled with golden energy…

Once again the Dora Milaje covered for the royal family, while T'Chaka looked sorry, T'Challa wasn't repentant and looked downright murderous, Ramona simply shielded her daughter with her body. Something else changed, a chilling wind struck everyone; they all looked around them again and the greenery around them took on the color of autumn and then died, the trees covered themselves in their winter bark.

"It seems that you have a stay of execution." Phoenix said, as she lowered her hand snow slowly fell on the ground and a white pillar speared the ground at the flaming woman's side.

As the pillar dissipated, a giant black Panther wearing golden and jeweled armor covered in runic script appeared. It… no, she roared. T'Chaka automatically went on his knee. "Panther Goddess."

At this announcement, everyone around him kneeled as well. There was awe, as well as fear in the air. This was a momentous event, Bast the Panther Goddess had descended. It hadn't happened since Bashenga, the first Black Panther rose as a king.

"Stay your hand, Avatar!" Bast roared and surged between the royal family and Phoenix.

Phoenix laughed. "**Princess Bast.** I didn't anticipate your intervention."

Bast said in a purr, "You should have, your intervention on this world has been noticed by every Deity man believes in. Some are in awe of your power or others seek to test themselves against you. What has brought you to my humble abode?"

T'Chaka didn't dare raise his head and let his better to converse between equals. He didn't understand why this was happening today, that this… avatar person would come and their Goddess would manifest herself to save them.

"That I can tell you." Suddenly, thirty or so containers poured out of a golden portal and stacked on the right of the T'Chaka Path.

"I have come to give this back to the Kingdom of Wakanda." Phoenix landed on her feet, the grassy ground covered now in snow did not catch fire or evaporate.

T'Chaka and his young daughter Shuri were surprised by the blatant breaking of common sense, logic or physical laws that the two beings were casually doing. The Panther goddess shifted her head toward one of the containers stacked high, with an effort of her will it levitated to the ground and landed. With her claw she shredded the container like tissue paper and from it, bars and ingots of Vibranium spilled out.

Bast put a claw against one of the bars and it rang that peculiar sound that Vibranium made. "The sound metal. How did you come by it!" The Goddess said with surprise.

"I caught this individual who offended me." Another portal opened and out of it a body rolled in front of King T'Chaka.

The dead body before him was that of a bearded white man of at least 1.80m and at least eighty kilograms, he was wearing green tactical armor and clothes; his neck and right arm were bent unnaturally.

"The Thief!" T'Chaka shouted, stood up and kicked Klaw's body.

T'Chaka then looked at his son and how rash he had been; then he thought that it wasn't just his son, their people were antagonistic and loathed anything that came from outside the valley. This situation was a blatant reminder that all was not good in Wakanda.

"Great Phoenix, may I have your attention." T'Chaka put as much oratious skill he could in his request.

Phoenix' fiery eyebrow rose, she lifted her chin and stood taller and said, "You may."

The old King put his fist against his right pectoral, a formal martial salute and said, "I, King T'Chaka, thank you for the great service you have done for the Kingdom of Wakanda."

The flames around Phoenix rose higher. "**I don't really care.**"

T'Chaka lowered his head, Shuri moaned briefly, and the Dora Milaje guards all looked shocked. A scream of rage was emitted from the old King's son who stood up and shouted, "Insolence!"

"Son don't do it." The old King tried to stop his son. But it was too late, T'Challa sidestepped him and lunged toward Phoenix with a dagger drawn. The hot headed T'Challa never had a chance, he simply entered a portal opening in space, toward the sun.

Phoenix instantly closed the portal. Everyone had seen the sun and its golden flames on the black background and T'Challa simply tumbling. Ramona cried out and Shuri stood up to watch where the portal was opened.

"M-my son…" T'Chaka held onto his chest and fell on his knees.

T'Challa had died, there was no way that he could survive the void of space without protection. The King looked at Phoenix whose face was completely neutral and devoid of feelings.

"Your son is foolish, short sighted and misguided. He is in no way ready or worthy to be King." The flaming entity revealed to him, just like his son's actions had just proved to him.

The form of Bast shifted to reveal a dark skinned woman in cyan, barely-there bikini, armor. "Avatar, could you bring him back please?" Bast asked, her tail swishing right and left and her panther ears flattened.

Hope burned in T'Chaka and his family. But the implication that she had dominion over life scared the old King.

Phoenix tilted her head. "What is in it for me? He slighted me twice, first by attacking me with their technology… and then he attacked me while we were having Parley."

Bast sighed and looked meaningfully at Phoenix. "I'll make it worth your while."

T'Chaka looked between them, it was as if they were having a secondary conversation at the same time.

The fire wreathed woman floated to the Panther Goddess and put a hand on her attractive face. It was the first time that Phoenix showed another emotion other than disdain since she landed in Wakanda. "Again, Panther Goddess, you are going out of your way for those people who have stopped listening to your will. Why would you do so?"

This comment struck a chord in everyone. That they have all strayed from the will of their Goddess. Shuri was recording everything that was being said on her Kimoyo Card, and she intended to share it on the communication network.

Phoenix continued to speak with blunt honesty and told everyone what she thought of their country and of their deeds, "They are cowards hiding in this valley, parasites that are ruining your blessing and hoarding it for themselves instead of sharing it with the people of this continent that they condemned to exploitation and slavery by doing nothing to stop it. Panther Goddess, they are starving you of spiritual energy as their belief in you dries up with each year that passes."

"They deserve a chance to change their ways. They are still my children." The Goddess spoke normally but it was as if she had roared this in the guards and the royal family's heart, their faith renewed anew.

"I see, you are a fierce and honorable protector. And as I respect you, I will give him back."

With a wave of her hand, a portal opened and the half charred and imploded body of T'Challa landed on the ground. Ramonda cried and ran toward the body of her step-son but was stopped by the nearest female guard. Phoenix wreathed the dead body in fire, a cocoon forming around it.

Phoenix lowered her hand and looked at the Panther goddess. "**It is done. You owe me, Princess Bast."**

This announcement echoed in the air like a bell, The Panther Goddess had entered into a contract with this avatar. King T'Chaka closed his eyes, he knew that later the backlash caused by this entire affair would splash on them. That his son would never be King at this point as he was a rash and warlike boy.

Bast nodded her head. "Before you leave, I have to tell you that my esteemed grandmother, Neith, wishes to converse with you."

T'Chaka could barely understand the affairs of the gods, the expression on Phoenix' face became disbelieving, then she smiled and laughed. The old King felt that it was derisive in nature. "An Elder God, huh… so be it. I imagine that she will speak to me through dreams and that she has a quest for me."

Bast lowered her head. "I cannot speak for my Esteemed grandmother."

"Very well." Phoenix nodded. Her gaze focused on the old King who stood straight. "King T'Chaka."

"Yes, Avatar?"

"I hope that your people learn from this entire debacle. Isolationism forces you to see enemies everywhere and doubt the intentions of everyone. It is good to be prudent, some beings and people shouldn't be trusted, but I had come with an open hand, in friendship and you batted it away. I hope that the next King or Queen will be wiser." Wings of fire spread and then she was hurtling into the sky like an arrow, disappearing.

Bast ignored the King and walked straight to Shuri, the guards and Ramonda stepped away from the two. The Goddess placed a claw on her forehead and aloud told her, "Grow little cub, I place my hopes on your shoulders. Become strong, become wise… and maybe you'll be able to recover our tarnished honor."

Shuri opened her eyes wide. "I shall my Goddess." Bast smiled at the young girl and stepped back; then just like she came into their lives, she disappeared in a pillar of light.

The Dora Milaje guards then took things in stride and placed the King and his family in a defensive formation by surrounding them. They all looked at the leftovers from the shocking visit of the two divine entities. The cocoon of fire then began to dissipate as a fist then an arm appeared from it and shattered it from within.

Lo and behold, Prince T'Challa appeared, whole and healthy, he looked around himself and his eyes brightened as he saw his father. T'Chaka looked into the sky feeling that this was just the beginning…

"The age of the Gods is once again coming."

**# # #**

**Back with Jean…**

I had gone shopping in Wakanda and came back with a nation's worth of knowledge. My head was killing me! I abused Knowledge Replication too many times. But a smile still tugged at my lips; I took all forms of useful information from the Wakandans: research, current and obsolete technologies and medicine were all stored in my memory and the Celestial scanner. While I had been speaking with the Panther Goddess I was also pillaging the minds of the scientists under the Mound.

Wakanda was space capable and walked on the moon a century before the Americans. They solved the problems that Pollution and Global warming would become ahead of its time. They knew how to cure cancer and HIV, they could even clean the oceans of all the human droppings accumulated since the 20th century.

My loathing toward them intensified, as their history, complete technological database and decisions since their foundation flowed into my mind.

*The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.* Wakanda and its people were the perfect example of why this quote was important. They were sinners, and proud of their civilization and traditions.

I was American, and I had been raised with not giving into the sin of political and moral apathy. I had been raised by reading about true Heroes like Steve Rogers, who taught me that when bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.

It means that if you allow something to happen that was inherently evil when you had knowledge or experience that the event happening was wrong morally, then you would have let "evil" win and have its way and it will have "triumphed."

The People of Wakanda may have felt they could not interfere when the european slavers had come because "it was none of their business". Or were afraid that they would be the next target and attracted the attention of those foreign empires at the time. Or maybe, they assumed somebody else would step up and say something. Or thought they could not spare the time. Or may even think that perhaps they were misjudging the situation.

There may be a hundred ways they had rationalized this to make themselves not feel guilty and think to themselves "If only I had….?". But the results are basically the same. They let this horrible crime happen through apathy or fear or disinterest or embarrassment or the fear of making a mistake.

And the result of this could be an escalation of the situation beyond anyone's control and to a greater disaster for many more than the original situation involved. *Like my arrival at Wakanda and Bast blessing Shuri and basically making her the future Queen, an event that will surely turn into a Civil War as the T'Challa of this reality was just like the comic book one, driven by lust and love for a weather Goddess, power hungry, and shortsighted.*

They could save billions with their medical science, but **they don't want any trouble**; their power over the life of everyone on this planet has thus become complete. 'Evil' has won because no one 'good' had the courage to stand against this injustice.

I exhaled and let go of my hatred and disgust. I knew that the domain and mission of Phoenix pushed my feelings to an extreme, Wakanda was stagnant. And my job was to fix or destroy stagnation to let life blossom and evolve. I didn't need my Phoenix costume to see that I was in Dark Phoenix mode still, it was the power calling me out to destroy that stain on Earth speaking and tempting me.

My feelings settled and I returned to normal, my Phoenix aura disappearing; I let my personal powers take the lead. I stopped flying and ended up floating over between the border of Mohannda and Wakanda. Then I realized that the first steps I had given myself were now complete, now it was time to safeguard my allies and rid this world of Hydra, then will come the time to _comprehend, build and innovate_.

"Life is good." I told myself with a smile while I returned to Klaw's base to rejoin my team.

**# # #**

**(Nick Fury)**

**Egypt Base  
Communication Room  
10:20 AM**

Nick adjusted his new eyepatch, Jean had offered it to him after putting some kind of gadget that gave him X-Ray and infrared vision linked to his brain in the form of a cybernetic eye. She had given him the choice between healing his right eye or giving him an upgrade that would give him an edge in the field. Nick had almost died in his previous bolt hole because Hydra used those special agents with cloaking suits. But with his prosthetic eye he could now see them.

A thin smile appeared on his face. If Jean Grey didn't stop that Hydra agent from completely sticking his knife into his eye, Nick wouldn't be here; eating the redhead's food and enjoying the comfort of advanced technology in her new base. Nick leaned in the comfy leather chair, moved the mouse on the right side and on the screen facing him he could scroll down information about Hydra's dark net that Jean Grey has access to. She allowed him unlimited access to it to come up with a plan to take down Hydra forever.

Nick would have found this fact alarming if Jean hadn't shown him the proof of how she had been abducted, the video recordings of her starting to kill everyone inside had scared the agent. If that had happened in the SHIELD HQ, she would have emptied the facility of life in less than one hour.

He was still wary of the young woman, there was this animosity between them born from his previous actions. But Nick was gradually overcoming his paranoia. He narrowed his eyes as he noticed the link pointing to the log of numerous numbered chat rooms. Before clicking on it, he changed the setting of the application and joined by appearing offline as the option was there.

**EncryptedChatRoom #056/Date:12/20/1996**

**Alca**: There were difficulties in retrieving the asset.  
**Jinta021**: Should the asset's rating be raised?  
**BVS**: If she doesn't join, destroy her, she's too dangerous otherwise.  
**SnowPiercer**: BVS Let me have another chance to bring her in, we got leverage.  
**Alca**: You Failed and are now asking another chance?!  
**SnowPiercer**: I had just underestimated the asset.  
**Alca**: She killed everyone sent after her and took samples of the cloaking suits.  
**BVS**: Enough! SnowPiercer I am giving you another chance, but if you fail me again…  
**SnowPiercer**: Thank you for this opportunity sir. Jinta021 Can I count on your assistance?  
**Jinta021**: Of course.  
…

Nick found it interesting that the previous owner of this base had a backdoor into Hydra. *Was he a member? Or a cautious individual keeping an eye on those degenerates?*

What was more worrying was that he was certain that the guy with the SnowPiercer handle was the source of their problems; the others he had no idea who they were, so he was going to look for more clues. After one hour passed, Nick closed his eyes; there was no way to quell the anger simmering in him as he clicked on the printing button.

While he waited for the documents to be printed, Nick looked at the roster on screen and Hydra wasn't only in SHIELD, but in the CIA, the Secret Service, the US Congress, the very fabric of his government, embedded at all levels. He wanted a drink, something strong enough to drown his despair. "How do you fight something like that? Peggy, how did you do it the first time?" Nick asked out loud.

He respected the woman even more now. Nick remembered how Peggy had told him how she fought this organization while being discriminated against in the SSR. Nick envied her the strength of character she possessed and he asked himself if this was the indirect influence of people such as Steve Rogers who instilled such greatness in others? The noises of the printer having finished its job interrupted him. He took the stack of papers and began reading through it.

Baron Wolfgang von Strucker  
Alexander Pierce  
Elisa Sinclair  
Valentina Allegra de Fontaine  
Count Otto Vermis  
Arnold Brown  
Edgar Lascombe  
Tony Masters  
Arnim Zola  
Gideon Malick  
Colonel Hale  
Daniel Whitehall  
Jasper Sitwell  
…

On and on the list went, and the more depressed Nick became, it wasn't just the USA, but Europe, Japan, South America. They are everywhere. He put the stack of papers on the desk in front of him. Slowly he began to laugh and then hysteria won over and for five minutes he didn't stop. "Motherfucker."

Nick's mind went into overdrive and he began to come up with a plan, something daring, something simply crazy. He opened a new document on Stark Office and began writing:

Operation  
CLEAN SWEEP

or

Operation Kill the Motherfucking Infiltrators

With a satisfied nod, Nick began to write out his proposition for how to handle taking down Hydra, it's facilities and agents with the help of Jean and some of her powered assets. He was sure that she wouldn't refuse. *No she won't, they took Peggy and she loves her to bits.*

At the same time Nick took out a device from his black coat, it was boxy, and with a digital screen showing the date and a number of names on them, at the end of it was a USB key that he connected to the computer. A window opened with an executable file on it and as he was still connected to the Internet he double clicked on it.

A series of dark windows with code scrolling down appeared and Nick smiled savagely. He sent an email to all the active agents he trained himself, even those fresh out of the SHIELD academy. Agent Barton, Agent Morse, Agent Hill, Agent May… and the list continued, he sent a code that only they would understand.

"I will have to speak with Grey to go assemble them."

**# # #**

**Back with Jean…  
Flying over Egypt Base  
12:05 PM (Egypt time)**

The operation was a success. My gains weren't material and Chimera was disappointed that we let go of the literal multiple tons of Vibranium. I had to sell them the idea that knowledge was more precious than material gain at this point and Vibranium wasn't a rare commodity for us after showing them that I could literally produce tons of it by transmuting other materials into it.

"We are landing, Boss." Chimera said out loud while I was thinking of the current events.

I nodded, and as I was looking at big gates covered in rocks to camouflage the entrance of hangar one, they opened with screeching noises. I made notes to oil them later or find another type of entrance, maybe hard-light holograms mimicking the mountain environment? Once open fully, Chimera guided the Samson into the mouth of the hangar and pushed the command to lock up again once we were far enough into the landing bay.

Chimera landed on landing pad number four, there was no one to welcome us but I sent a telepathic message to Jessica and Cindy that I was there. Gwen was busy in the lab… she made herself at home with surprising ease; so I didn't bother calling her. The Samson landed with a thunk that made me jolt from my seat, fortunately I had my safety belt. I glared at Chimera who looked sheepishly at me and began the post flight checks.

The cockpit depressurized and the access door behind swished like a star trek door. I loved the effect, I resolved to have the same system for my personal rooms later. The interior of the Samson had some seats near the cockpits and against the wall separating from the engines. Klaw was there, in a younger body and already annoying the hell of Regan by offering to teach her about fine music. Arclight noticed my appearance and threw me a pleading gaze to intervene.

Sighing, I said with a voice cracking like a whip, "Klaw, leave her alone, she's too young for you anyway."

He jumped, looked at me and gulped as if I was really scary or something. "But-" I already was regretting placing his mind into a younger clone body, the body hormones and brain chemicals were affecting him already.

I waved a hand and his safety belt unlocked. "I don't want to hear it, come, we need to get you squared away."

Looking at Regan I saw a bit of gratitude in her eyes but there was also resentment as I put her in this situation. Klaw massaged his clean shaven chin, he looked somewhat handsome but his crazy laugh was a deal breaker. "Girly, you run a tight ship…" Then he smiled and went to open the door of the Samson and got out after sending a kiss to Regan.

The blonde teen slammed her fist against the armrest of her seat. "I hate that guy!" I felt her fury as if it was mine, the girl might have some smidgen of projective empathy power.

I was happy that she wasn't skittish as I approached her, Regan stared at me with stubbornness. "He isn't really interested in you. He is doing that because he knows you are the sniper who killed all of his men, he is taunting you."

Regan stared at me angrily then, and was about to say something truly negative but she caught herself and realized who I was and that I could presume to know what people thought or felt. "Oh."

I took one of my loaded SPAS-12 combat shotguns from Goldie hammer space and threw it into Regan's waiting hands. "If he continues, shoot him in the pelvis with this."

Regan smiled predatorily as she checked the Italian weapon and fondled it. Her eyes then focused on me and she plastered a wicked smile on her face. "Attractive plan. Aren't you afraid that I might kill him?"

I shrugged. "Even if he dies, I can bring him back." Then I left the Samson, letting Regan ponder on what I just said.

Klaw was waiting for me and when he saw me, he saluted me with an eager and looney grin on his face. The… worshipful feelings of admiration and respect he had toward me were embarrassing and overwhelming. It was starting to bother me, but I just turned my empathy way down to tolerate the guy.

"Well girly, you still didn't tell me what you did to-"

I cut him off by pointing a finger and touching his forehead and showing him exactly what happened in Wakanda. Their reactions to my coming, their nonsensical xenophobia; my destroying of their country-wide defenses, my almost killing the royal family only to be thwarted by the panther goddess, the humiliation and loss of identity of Wakanda, the future Civil War that will tear them up from the inside. "Is this enough for you, Klaw?"

Klaw laughed, it was a full belly laugh of relief. "You girly, you don't fuck around; I've been trying to get back at them for a long time and you just waltz in and kick ass. So, yeah that is enough for me. It's even better than killing all of them."

I nodded as I sensed his approval; the revengeful thought inside of him quelled for good. Now Klaw was thinking more about all the free time he will have for his research and his hobbies that were all about music. No more politics, no more managing a bunch of mercenaries and worry about backstabbing. Klaw loved the fact that I was now in charge, that I seemed to respect my people, from what he has observed so far.

I didn't smile back, but with a _clank _I crossed my arms under my breastplate. "At a later date we are going to discuss your employment details, the rules here in the base, the type of research that I want you to do. Though I would prefer that you focus on your sound technology."

Klaw eyes shone with interest. "Weaponry, civilian engineering?"

I felt that it was the only field that interested him, so I nodded. "You got it. Any research you succeed in, you file the patent under yours and my name for now. When I open Grey Corporation, sixty percent of the royalties will go to you. I am not here to steal a man's work, I want you to help me better this world."

A derisive glint replaced the interest from earlier. Klaw disapproved. "You are an idealist."

I didn't care what he thought of my goals for the future, but I decided to speak in terms he would understand, men like him were selfish. "No, a pragmatist. I want money, safety for me and mines, a clean world and I fucking want to go to space and meet aliens and-"

"Kill them?" Klaw unhelpfully finished my sentence… He showed teeth. What surprised me was the fact that Klaw didn't think that I was crazy because I believed in alien life.

"No!" I cried out, but I thought about the Shi'ar and the Kree and said, "...maybe, if they piss me off? But before we are ready for spaceflight and touring the galaxy we need to raise the level of civilization of this world. If Wakanda doesn't want to do it…" I smiled predatorily and made a fist. "Then, I will."

Klaw's smile gradually disappeared as his thoughts echoed my opinion. **Even if they were idiots, they have the tech for it… It's really too bad she couldn't get samples of them, but the girly thinks the right way.**

I laughed, he finally thought what I wanted him to. I decided to reel him in further by asking, "Klaw, can you keep a secret?"

The old man in a young body stood straighter and nodded. "For you girly, I will!"

I produced the boxy Celestial scanner and showed it to Klaw. With a mental command it showed us in a three dimensional holo-screen the schematics of the Royal Talon Fighter that the Black Panther uses and disassembled it by components. "Their technology database and repository, I downloaded it all. What they know, now I do." I said in a low and triumphant voice.

The holo-screen showed an exploded view of the Talon Fighter, though the language and specifications were in Celestial, Klaw could follow what was shown to him. He lifted his head and looked at me with half-lidded eyes and said, "Marry me?"

I didn't feel any lust coming from him, so I didn't hit him with my optic blast power. What Klaw seemed to like was my deviousness and thief-like nature; it was flattering in a way. And it was at this moment that Cindy, with her Silk costume appeared in an upside down position hanging from a spiderweb, then landed and placed herself between us, taking a fighting stance as she glared at Klaw. "Back off or else…" her vibranium claws deployed from her hands, shining with an electric red hue.

Wow she was getting good at that ninja thing… I put a hand on her shoulder. "He didn't mean it, don't kill him."

Cindy relaxed but still glared at Klaw. "You are lucky." She harrumphed and hugged me, I placed a smooch on her lips, making Cindy smile back to me contentedly. Then Cindy placed herself at my side, a hand around my waist.

Klaw looked somewhat shocked, it made me chuckle. The Celestial scanner was reabsorbed by my Symbiote and was now safe inside it. "Well, like I was saying Klaw… we are going to change the world. I would appreciate it if you could direct me to other scientists like you. But try to avoid spies and Hydra agents, I will know what they are."

Looking a bit embarrassed by my and Cindy's physical display of affection, Klaw nodded. "Err… I will make you a list."

I nodded and sent a message to my Butler. **Hans we are back, will you sort out the Cargo we have and help situate our new resident scientist?**

**I will be there in five.** Hans answered back, I felt that he was busy with something but decided to let it go to do what I asked.

"Wait here, someone will come fetch you." I said to Klaw as I put the boxes of his belongings between us. 'I'm glad he knew exactly what he wanted from his compound when we packed it up'. I waved at him and left hangar one holding hands with Cindy. We were met with a flying Jessica who placed herself at my side.

# # #

"Where did you find this guy?" Cindy asked, still wary of the strange man.

*Here comes the questions.* I thought we had been walking in silence for a while, heading toward the common room in the dormitories.

My armor was subtly being replaced by normal clothes by Goldie, the cuirass by a strapless bra quickly covered by a black caged cupped bralette; my armored pants by black cargo pants with lots of pockets, my gauntlets by fingerless gloves. But I kept my armored boots on.

I sighed and began to enlighten them. "Ulysses Klaw, scientist, business entrepreneur and outlaw. He is now working for me."

"A criminal?" Jessica piped up in astonishment.

I stopped walking, Cindy and Jessica did the same and looked askance at me. Hoping that I was joking, but the expression on my face didn't shift from neutral. "Yes."

Cindy frowned, locks of hair framing her face, she had a really attractive middle-parted hairstyle. "Jean… why did you bring such a guy here?"

"When I am done with Hydra, I plan to open a business. I want the smartest people in the world working for me, there's Gwen who is my friend and first recruit, then now there's Klaw who I wish to keep for his mind. Not his personality, he is too off putting for that. You don't have to worry about your safety, I made sure that he wouldn't betray me or hurt anyone I love."

**I will tell you why later, okay?** I sent into their minds.

The two of them looked at each other, there was doubt on their faces, but they decided to trust me, after all I didn't lead them astray yet and I always kept my promises.

"So, what have you been up to?" Jessica asked while I linked fingers with Cindy.

"I brought a Nation to its knees today." I said absently while thinking that I needed to have a discussion with Cindy about her jealous outbursts.

Jessica laughed and slapped my back with her super strength, it made me almost fall and I gave her a dirty look that she ignored then she asked, "Right… no really, what did you do today?"

Huh she didn't like the full truth? Fine, I will somewhat sanitize it. "Hmm, I went to capture Klaw and make him work for me, then I went to steal technologies from a hidden country."

Jessica laughed nervously at my casual mention of stealing from somewhere. She could barely accept that I was a thief, after the deal with Oscorp, if she knew that I was a murderer as well… I may lose my friend over it. She was giving me an out, to lie to herself and preserve our friendship.

*But soon, Jessica you won't be able to hide your head in the sand.* I smiled impishly at her.

Jessica punched my shoulder, I fortunately saw it coming and reinforced my body with TK. "That's better, you shouldn't joke like that, sometimes you sound like a comic book villain."

I turned my head and looked at my girlfriend who shook her head at Jessica's antics. The thing is that Cindy completely believed me and it was only Jessica who still thought I was a saint. It didn't matter to her that I killed bad guys, at all. I smiled at her, and she smiled back. **I love you.** I sent her and she answered back with her mind not as loud as I would want but she said it.

**_I love you too. _**Cindy was less proficient in the mind arts than Jessica, it was a strange dichotomy.

Jessica was strong mentally, and if she had telepathic powers I am sure that she would be at least Alpha level. It's worth cultivating, I will ask Jessica if she wants to be psychic later. As we reached the common room, we stopped before a bronze statue that I had made with my powers, it was of Gal Gadot in her Wonder Woman costume posing with fists on her hips.

I informed my friends and lover that, "I'm going to make a new costume, then I have some really heavy stuff to tell my parents and Phil. " I said by counting on my fingers all I had to do today. "By the way Jess, Cindy. You'll be told too, okay?"

The two of them became wary at this point. Cindy let go of my hand and narrowed her eyes, while Jessica crossed her arms.

"How heavy?" Jessica asked.

She has always been smart, and knew me very well; when I said things in an innocuous tone that I am being serious.

"Heavier than the drama with Cindy's mom." I answered with a quip.

Jessica's brown eyes widened, she stepped back and uncrossed her arms showing her shock. "That much?"

Cindy poked me with her index finger. "Hey! Since when did my family life become a ladder for drama?"

"I dunno, ask Jean." Jessica shrugged. That traitorous bitch was throwing me under the bus.

We had a discussion with our respective family about what to do when (not if) Cindy would have to run away from home, if ever one of us could take her in. Jessica had said that Alisa would help Cindy after seeing how the woman behaved; my mom simply said yes and that was it.

Cindy glared at me and simply said, "No sex for you tonight."

"No!" It was as if it was the end of the world; and I found myself simply trying to change her mind now.

The asian girl simply shook her head with an angry expression. "You are being punished…"

I sighed heavily, while Jessica, that bitch, laughed at our antics. "Girls, sometimes I think I will catch diabetes if I stay near you too much…"

After this round of banter, we went our separate ways; Cindy had to help my mother with lunch and Jessica choose to roam the base to familiarize herself with it as she was sure that it wasn't the only time she would be here. As for me? I was already starting on a project that I had put off for long enough. I had my Phoenix armor and it was rad, but I wished for a normal costume to use since I couldn't be Phoenix to the world.

I had already asked Pete to make the gadgets for me to my specifications, it was now time to bring the terror of the Bat into the Marvel universe. I already had a design in mind, it seemed simple at first but it would mainly be a tri-weave vibranium/umf suit. Though just as I thought about it, my new stolen knowledge was already helping me make some adjustments.

Teleporting to the Lab Complex, I was surprised to feel that Gwen was there in the bioengineering sector and that Peter was working on his own costume design on the computer. I had teleported before the entrance of the computer room. Peter must have felt me as he looked behind him then waved at me with a smile. I smiled back and nodded at him. This was a change from his previous behavior that I find myself liking more.

I walked up to Peter. Slaloming between the desks and workbenches. "Hard at work, Pete?"

Peter wore a tight red muscle shirt with jeans ripped at the knees and combat boots. He was cute and drool worthy now that I noticed, it must be because he had stopped scowling at me. He has the body of a martial artist and a brilliant mind. Interesting to see that I was still attracted to men even with Cindy in my life. Peter did the same and checked me out, but he didn't feel attracted to me like other teenagers his age. It was more like looking at a good painting than lusting after me, I felt flattered.

Peter took his hands off the keyboard and stood up to face me. "More or less, there's so many things I want to cram into the new armored suit..."

A quirky smile tugged on my lips and Peter made a 'Uh oh' expression on his face when I told him, "You are going to hate me then, I have even more updates to enter in the database."

Peter looked shocked. "Damn…"

He had already made a lot of advancements with the current repository of tech from Sinister. Me coming back with even more tech negating his work is kind of crushing; so much so that I decided to reassure him about my intentions. "Though it will take time to implement, we will have to make do with what we have already."

The young man sighed, then glared at me. "You scared me."

I smiled at the face he was making, I raised my hand to his face and pinched his right cheek. He batted it away, blushing a little as he wasn't used to me touching him.

After laughing at him, I continued to speak after he stopped glaring and rubbing his cheek. "Don't worry about the work you have already done, but... any new costumes we make are going to wait until after I build the tools needed for the fabricator I have in mind."

I felt that he was about to speak about Gwen's costume when what I just said registered; his eyes brightened with interest. "Like the one in star trek?"

"No, those use matter-energy conversion. The ones I am speaking about are more about using nanotechnology to break down material and configure it into something else to the user's specification on the nanoscale level."

Walking up to me and taking my arms in his hand, Peter who looked astonished asked, "You can do that?!"

I nodded and used Photokinesis to show him schematics, photons bent under my will and took on the form I wished, creating box shaped constructs with complex components inside tem. "With my power? Certainly. But I also have the technology in my memory to reach such a result, but first I need the Energy generation necessary for it, the computing power and time… Pete?"

As Pete thought about the possibilities of the Wakandan Fabricator, he finally registered that I called his name. "Yeah?"

Nerd boys were easily distracted… "Did your parents tell you about our problem with SHIELD and Hydra?"

Pete stepped back from me and sat on the desk at his right, then looked at me. "Bad business, I knew those mooks you had hooked up with were trouble."

I remembered that Peter didn't trust any of the SHIELD agents that came to accompany us on my way to school. For a good reason, sometimes Hydra agents were amongst them. "Not all of them were bad, Peggy, Phil and I guess Nick are good people."

Narrowing his eyes at me, Peter who had observed me keenly spoke, "You like the first two, I hear it in your voice... but you are not sure about the last one."

I was shocked that he was that perceptive! I looked at the boy in a new light and smiled at him. Then I decided to be a bit more forthright with him. "Well he did try to get me arrested once and also tried to have an inhibitor collar put on me."

I showed Peter with a hologram what the collars looked like. After observing the three dimensional construct, Peter's eyes focused on me. "What are those?" There was an edge in his voice, as he already suspected what those did.

Without blinking an eye I revealed what they could do, "They are collars that dampen the powers of Metahumans. It's used by governments aware of powered people like us to control us or… **enslave us**."

Peter closed his eyes, his hands that were in his lap tightened into fists. "Fury… I don't like that guy."

I chuckled, "I am on the fence about him. He means well but he is a spy, and often makes morally grey decisions or does things that no one else would; for god and country, of course."

The man was completely different from the MCU cookie cutter version of himself, I had expected that he would be like him but he was completely different and less experienced than the one from the comics that I am aware of. His paranoia was driving him into not trusting anyone. To be frank I had expected him to be a bit like Bruce Wayne, with contingencies for everyone if they ever went rogue. But the man went beyond that and it was unhealthy.

In a sense I wanted to be like Bruce Wayne too, this was Marvel! There's Skrulls here, and telepathy was a thing, I needed to up my game to be ready for anything too. I wanted to be like Bruce Wayne in a good way, but I won't do that to my friends or family and let lay around the secrets to their weaknesses for my enemies to hack for. No, I will keep everything to myself and the AI that I…

*Yes, an AI, I needed one and a Quantum Computer.* An Octahedron data core with multiple Isolinear chips housed in crystal-like motherboards were surging into my mind, the schematic coming and assembling slowly. This was a bit of the alien tech that the Wakandan people who found alien technology based their tech on, this is where the Isolinear circuitry came up and why it was so star trekish…*They have been holding that they were roaming the world for those, huh.*

Peter lifted his head from his contemplation and stared me in the eyes, his voice tight. "The greater good?" He interrupted my train of thoughts because he was dead on target. Xavier was all about the Greater Good and didn't do shit, but Fury's oath of protection was all about protecting the Earth and he was going to do anything for it, even steal the freedom of little ol' me.

"Yes." I nodded.

Peter snorted. "Countless people died for the notion of greater good that some men use. It is often not defined whose good they have in mind."

That surprised me. "Oh Pete, you are so wise. I understand what you mean, so I should stay professional with the man but don't get cozy with him."

Peter glared at me for the compliment he thought was a bit demeaning, but he realized that I was serious, blushed a bit and coughed in his hand to avoid my gaze. "That's kind of a good approach to your problem. Treat him like an ally, but stay wary. They brought everyone into their own business and we were chased from our homes and had to hide."

It was a bit unfair to think that everything that happened was Peggy's fault, if I hadn't come onto the radar of the spy agency, none of this would have happened. "But it's my fault-" I tried to explain to Pete.

Only for him to put a hand on my arm to interrupt me. "No it isn't, they forced you to work for them, remember?"

He had a point, I didn't set SHIELD to look for me, I was kind of doing well by myself at the time. Sighing, I nodded to Peter. "Yeah…"

# # #

**14:05 PM  
White board room  
Lab Complex**

After Peter, of all people, assuaged my fears about the level of responsibilities I had in the entire Hydra debacle, we went back to work. I found myself back in the whiteboard room, the walls were covered with whiteboard and there was still the throne that I had made from the stone ground. This time I had gathered different marker pens in different canisters.

Opening them, the black markers flew and began to take annotations of what I wanted for my costume for the next operation. It would be all about Stealth and the Phoenix Armor won't do it as it is too flashy. I needed different alter-egos to survive in this reality to confound my enemies. I was the Phoenix avatar, I am also Jean Grey, why shouldn't I add another mask to my collection, though I don't want to lose myself in them like Hank Pym did.

They were just going to be part of myself. With the red Marker pen I drew a stylized bat symbol, then I began to write down what I wanted.

**Prototype Vibranium Microweave Mesh**: For each layer of vibranium mesh I must add this new method stolen from the mound's scientists. The microweave robs incoming objects of their momentum; bullets do not ricochet off, but simply fall to the ground when they come in contact with the weave. It reduces the chances of being stabbed, however, if the attacker slashes along the costume's grain it can be cut. Nevertheless it's durability should be tremendous.

**Conductivity Control:** Low Infrared Signature with grey latex coating to dampen heat signature. Making the suit's user difficult to detect with night-vision equipment.

**Musculature Motility Layer:** Follows occupant's motion.

**Transpirable Teflon-Based Temperature Control:** Controls the Internal Temperature of the Wearer. The same as my Phoenix Armor.

**Proto-Adamantium clawed gauntlet:** Proto-Adamantium metal gauntlets with angular fin blades on the forearms with tipped nails with dense Vibranium cores sheathed under them. Enable them to cut, rend and pierce through anything.

**Flexible Vibranium Mobile Shielding:** It offers increased strength and protection through extra Vibranium plating while retaining flexibility for speed and mobility.

I looked at the notes and the sketch of the suit, it strangely resembled the first iteration of Batgirl's purple suit. Though I wouldn't let it be purple but grey. It lacked a little something… *Ah!* I realized what was missing.

I erased part of the costume at the hips level and began sketching a red belt.

**Utility Belt:** lightweight belt with magnetized impact-resistant pouches, and canisters attached to the belt at ergonomic points for ease of reach.

Nodding, I was satisfied to see that the base suit would be as good as my armor if not more effective. The flexible mobile shielding would be made to go over the base suit like a vest and pants. Now it was time to think about the gadgets, and the first thing I needed to make was a grapple gun, restraining equipment, non-lethal weapons such as a pistol and rifle with directed energy similar to the electro laser idea from SHIELD but pushed to eleven with several safety settings.

If I worked until tomorrow I am sure that I will be able to pull it off. Just to cheat I ignited my inner fire, my body wreathed in a shroud of fire. My Phoenix power would sustain me. I didn't need to sleep, drink or eat when I was in this state.

**# # #**

**December 22nd, 1996  
05:56 AM**

The 3D printer stopped its task, the lid opened and a pedestal raised from the grey, box shaped device. Each piece of the suit was lovingly and neatly put on display making me coo in delight. There was even the high-tech mask I added at the last minute that will let me see in the infrared and ultraviolet portions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

It was ready, but it still had to test it. I took the mask first and placed it on my face and used the special lock to keep it firmly there behind my neck. The special lenses made me see the world as if I was looking at a 4K screen, making my normal vision incredible, then I pushed a button on the right side of the mask and activated the infrared mode. The walls were blue and the machines and computers were bright red and yellow.

Another push of the button and suddenly I could see the bones of my hands and my veins and arteries. Turning my eyes toward the 3D printer, I could see inside the different layers and components. I needed an onboard computer or an AI linked to the suit to be able to take advantage of such advances… I guess that the next version will be more high-tech.

The clawed gauntlets worked like a charm, thanks to the adamantium formula present in the database I could easily produce it with my powers. I mixed the alloy with vibranium to form proto-adamantium, it is completely indestructible. I scratched the stone ground with the claws and it gave as if it was butter. I whistled.

"Well, I will need to be careful with these."

The next test was even simpler, I placed the base suit and the flexible mobile shielding pieces on a mannequin and fired at it with a pistol. The bullets were stopped and fell harmlessly on the ground. They didn't flatten against it but their moment has been stolen completely. I tried with an automatic rifle and it was the same result.

I nodded. "Good job me."

[_In position_: Ready to absorb.]

"Do it Goldie!"

And my symbiote latched on the suit and began to absorb it into its hammer space just like it did for all my clothes in my wardrobe some months ago. My Phoenix Armor was made part of Goldie as well, I could put my suits on instantly.

Then Goldie slowly began to clad me in grey suit, my boots and gauntlets were black and completely snug. My utility belt appeared around my hips next, as I didn't have any mirror, I used my TK to solidify the air before me and make it into ice, a highly reflective rectangle floated before me, then I looked at myself.

I traced the crimson bat symbol on my chest, the armor was emphasizing my womanly figure. I looked good, but when I looked at my masked face, I vaguely looked demonic, it was an exact replica of Batwoman's mask from the comics. The lenses in the eyes of the mask were completely blank, it was an anti-glare system in case someone used a blinding grenade.

The suit lacked a cape, but I saw _The Incredibles_ in my previous life and I didn't want to die because I wanted to look cool. Instead of a cape, I decided to come up with an add-on customized cloak. I had played enough Batman Arkham to know how powerful the mystique of the cape was; By adopting the style of a bat, Batman essentially created the myth that he was something mysterious and not just a man, We can see that after his first appearance in Batman Begins, people started to speculate whether he was just a bat, or a monster.

The cape hid his human figure and gave him a more mythical appearance. This intimidated criminals and hence gave Batman an advantage. Besides, the cape worked to his advantage. He could use it as a form of theatricality and deception. While moving, one could not find out exactly where he was since the cape had an independent motion of its own.

It was back to the building board for me and I thought that I was going to take advantage of the Hard Light technology pilfered from the Wakandan.

Two hours later, I was back in the whiteboard room, still wearing my Batwoman suit and writing annotations for a backpack Hard Light projector. It will need hours of coding to even get it right with technology. The cloak would become intangible while in combat or movement but simulate billowing movement when I moved.

In tangible mode it could become wings which enables me to glide on air-currents for a short time. The cloak can be elongated, shortened or eliminated with a thought, and the entire suit can be covered allowing it to pass as normal street clothes or render me completely invisible.

*Wow, cloaking technology? Let's make it better than the one Hydra uses.*

**# # #**

**(Elaine & John Grey, Phil Coulson)**

**Lab Complex  
06:58 PM**

Elaine was worried. Jean hadn't been seen since yesterday afternoon, she had even asked Cindy while she was in their shared bedroom, seated on the bed. The girl didn't know and had looked rather lonely as she gazed at the door leading to somewhere Elaine hadn't had the pleasure to find herself in yet. Straightening her white sundress, the Grey Matriarch turned to her husband who shrugged and walked toward the door and opened it. Before Elaine could move, Cindy warned her, "You shouldn't go, she's going to brush you away as she seems to be doing something important." The black haired girl said with a pout.

This was strange for Elaine, Jean was more polite normally. "That's what she told you?"

*More important than enjoying her time with you?* Elaine was already more than aware that Cindy and Jean were past kissing and petting, it was self-evident in the way that they moved or looked at each other. But Jean brushing off the love of her life? Something was afoot.

Cindy nodded and put the tablet computer in her hands at her side. "Yes, and be careful, she will prank you with her new gadgets."

The girl scowled in reminiscence at something and silently muttered things she will do in revenge to Jean.

Elaine was aware of the free spirited nature of her daughter, she was also a jokester with the people she loved. She could take a joke a little too far sometimes. "How bad was it?" The Grey matriarch found herself asking.

With a haunted look in her brown eyes, Cindy said, "Be careful of dark places."

Elaine nodded, a chill coursing through her at the same time. She handed the jar full of vanilla chips cookies to Cindy. "Thank you and please take this cookie jar for yourself. I heard that your powers make you a big eater." It was a bribe to reward the girl for snitching on her daughter.

Her eyes glittering, Cindy was pleased and took the jar from Elaine's hands."Thank you Mrs E!"

"Call me Elaine, remember?"

Cindy looked sheepish. "I will try…" The young girl opened the jar and began to devour her first cookie in earnest.

Turning back to the door, Elaine saw that her husband didn't wait for her, she frowned and entered the corridor. It was barely lit, there was space between each lamp leading the way. Elaine asked herself where her husband was and why did he leave without her. Her answer was before her when she saw the back of John as he watched something.

She came up from behind him and placed herself at his side and froze, there were countless eerie things on the cavernous space's ceiling. *Are those bats?*

Some of the flying vermin came toward them in a big cloud, John shielded his wife by placing himself before them and braced himself. He was surprised to feel the bats pass through them. The flapping of their wings didn't emit any sounds and that's what clued John Grey that what they were seeing was an illusion.

"Hi, mom, dad." A voice said from behind them.

They looked back and saw a caped figure with a demonic look with scarlet red hair, the face was pale and lips blood red.

"Aaaaaah!" John screamed and took his wife by the hand and fled, only to be stopped by Elaine from moving.

Elaine instantly recognized the voice of her daughter and any fear she felt was automatically crushed. This was what Cindy had tried to tell them, their daughter had felt them coming toward her and chose to prank them by scaring them. "Jean! Think about your father's heart!"

As if struck, the costumed girl stepped back. "Oops."

John held a hand on his heart and stared between his wife and daughter, unbelieving of what had just happened. He had screamed like a… girl. Jean looked even more sheepish as she without a doubt felt their emotions.

"Take off that silly mask." Elaine ordered.

The young woman obeyed, the mask simply disappeared slowly from her face as if it melted. Jean's face was now visible. She didn't look happy at all suddenly.

Elaine narrowed her eyes. "What did you think you were doing?"

Fidgeting, Jean couldn't look into the eyes of her mother and found her booted feet interesting. "I'm sorry." She finally said.

The Grey Matriarch took her daughter's face between her hands and made her look into her eyes and said with cold and perfect inflections. "It'st not me who you should say you're sorry to."

Jean's head shifted to the left and she said with utmost honesty. "I'm sorry, dad."

John let go of his wife and hugged his youngest daughter. "It's okay, I was… not ready for this." The elder Grey held onto his chest, looking a bit pained.

Jean looked even more guilty, but this expression suddenly shifted into a determined look. "I should have thought about it before, but later I'm going to give each of you a check up and fix the little things that ail you."

John laughed and hugged his daughter again, caressing her hair. Jean didn't even struggle, even thought she didn't like being treated like a little girl. "You don't have to." Her father said.

The redhead stepped back from him and her eyes narrowed, a sign that her decision was made. "I want you in my life for a long time, so I will do that."

Elaine sighed, and poked her husband between the ribs, eliciting a yelp from him. "Let the girl do what she wants, John."

Jean laughed, then frowned as she realized something. "Err, it's not that I don't want you here, but what brought you?"

John noticed how the cape things on his daughter seemed to be entirely made of darkness; it weirded him out and made his eyes water. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

Elaine was the one to answer Jean. "You have been absent since yesterday afternoon, and we were worried."

Jean froze as she was made aware of the time. "Oh, hmm what time is it?"

"7:00 PM, Jean." John helpfully informed her.

Jean opened her eyes wide and looked horrified. "Already?! But It was barely morning when I was working on my Hard Light projector!"

Elaine looked at her daughter who was shocked by the news brought to her. She resolved to reassure her, and placed a hand on her gauntleted right arm. "Dear, you must have been too excited and not seen the time pass. So, what's that thing you are working on?"

Jean perked up as her mother was interested in her work and excitedly began to say, "A hard light projector, in layman terms I put together a device that manipulates photons to create soft and hard hologram constructs. It's possible through the continuous movements of the photons..."

Jean and John looked as Elaine's eyes glazed over at her explanation that had been made simple. Elaine shook her head and chuckled, then turned to her husband. "John, what is she saying? Can you explain?"

Jean's dad took on a thoughtful expression, passed a hand into his black hair that was greying to his temples. "I think she made those bats from earlier with holograms, that's why they passed through us. Oh, and the cape she's wearing? It's not a real one."

"Oh dad, you realized!" Jean clapped her gauntlet together, a _clang _sound echoed.

With a proud smile, John was happy to show off his smartness to his wife and daughter. "Your mother didn't marry me just for my good looks, Jeanie."

"Yeah, you are cool dad." Jean nodded.

Elaine looked at her husband who had his ego stroked and rolled her eyes. "I understand now, but this costume you made for yourself is a tad scary. What do you intend to do with it?"

Jean's smile melted from her face to be replaced by a sad expression. Elaine didn't like that look on the face of her happy daughter, she had realized long ago that Jean had become different since she came back from her kidnapping and tried to not treat her child any differently than before.

The redhead looked at each of them. "Mom, dad, I have things to reveal to you today. I hope you aren't busy… as a matter of fact, I need to have uncle Phil in that conversation too, I had promised to tell him the complete story of what happened in these walls."

"I will go look for him." John piped up and left the room.

He has seen the serious look in the eyes of his daughter, she wanted to tell them something. He still asked himself if he was ready for whatever Jean was going to tell them. Was it going to be more important than her revelation that she is a metahuman like she calls herself?

**# # #**

**Computer room  
10 minutes later**

Phil had followed John Grey into the room; Elaine was seated near her daughter next to a bank of empty desks put face to face. The cushioned stool was comfortable; now he asked himself what he was doing here, this was clearly something that only family should be present for, but he remembered that Jean had promised him to tell him the truth about the things she knew and the infiltration skills she seemed to have developed.

"Exactly, uncle Phil." Jean looked at him with her usual smile.

Phil chuckled at the smug face of the young woman, it was omni-present as of late. "You are still reading me."

"Yes, just with my empathic ability, don't worry." She waved him off.

She seemed to not understand how unnerving her ability to read people's intentions or emotions was. But it seemed to be a defense mechanism that the young woman has developed since her rocky childhood. Phil couldn't blame her for that. There was a pitcher of water and plastic cups on the desks. Jean served water to everyone with her telekinesis, making the pitcher float from cup to cup, filling them with water.

After everyone received their cup, Jean began to speak. "I've gathered you there to tell you about some things, important things."

Elaine interrupted her. "Does it concern your powers?"

Jean tilted her head, then nodded. "Somehow, yes they do mom. This is the proof that everything is connected, that my fate was altered."

"Take your time Jean and tell us…" John encouraged her daughter with a reassuring

"It all started when I was three years old…" Jean began her tale.

Phil was completely absorbed by it, Jean had someone else in her body. Another soul, that of a woman called Emily that has been taking care of her and guiding her throughout her childhood. It was in part thanks to her that Jean didn't enter into a coma after Annie's death and helped her control her nascent telepathic powers. Then Sinister or Nathaniel Essex happened and Jean and Emily made the decision to train their telepathy and later their telekinesis as it manifested when she got older.

"Wait." Phil interrupted her. "Are you implying that this Emily woman was cognisant of the future?"

Jean sighed, she was being hesitant for a moment before she decided to rip the band-aid. "Emily came from another reality, she knew what was going to happen to me, we tried really hard to save Annie as she loved her too. But it was in vain." a tear flowed from Jean's left eye. It took a moment for her to stop, Elaine helped her with a tissue from her handbag. The young woman then drank a bit of water. "Then everything changed when Emily told me what would happen to me if Charles Xavier got his hands on me."

Jean's hate for the man had never been rational to Elaine and John; she disliked him on sight. "Explain." Elaine commanded.

"Charles Xavier isn't the paragon of goodness he makes people believe." Jean said, then she began to tell them about how his brand of teaching worked. The school for gifted he led certainly taught young metahumans how to use their powers, but Charles Xavier taught them in ways that limited them and brainwashed them with his -in Jean's words- feel good bullshit about tolerance and peace between their races.

Then what would have happened to her if he had got her in her childhood, how he would have turned her into an emotionally stunted useless doll by violating her mind repeatedly. John Grey had to take a break from the story at this point as he was furious. When he came back everyone was calm and Jean began her discourse on Charles methods. "The problem is that Metahumans are human, not a separate species. Having powers doesn't change the fact that we feel and experience things like everyone else. He separates the children from their parents and fills their head with nonsense. He surrounds himself with loyal child soldiers, something that makes him no different from Magneto."

Phil felt that Jean was really bitter about what Charles Xavier was doing, and the way she framed his method, it was classic brainwashing in a cult. This called for an investigation, Phil filed this away for later when the situation would be less dire.

Strangely it was Elaine Grey who seemed to want to defend the man. "But Jean, it's rather sensible, his goals."

Jean narrowed her eyes and put a hand on her mother's forehead. She clicked her tongue as if she found something unpleasant and made a sweeping movement with her hand. Elaine flinched, shook her head and blinked. Then the Grey Matriarch looked at her daughter who made a sign that said they will talk later.

When Jean looked at the men of her life and began to speak, there was anger in her voice as she gave her final opinion on the matter of Charles Xavier. "No, it's been thirty years. Thirty years and Charles Xavier hasn't done shit about our people, now it's time for him to stay back in his twenty five million dollar mansion and let another person take the mantle and get the job done. But we are going off-topic."

"Indeed, we are." Phil said, still filing away what Jean just did to her mother, as if she had taken out some filth from her head.

Jean sighed and took a swig of water, put her cup on before her and looked at Elaine, John and Phil. "After I was captured, Jean and Emily fused, in souls and spirit."

Phil narrowed his eyes, lost into the sudden allegory. "What do you mean exactly?"

Jean used her powers to create two holograms, one of them was her and another was a curvy black woman with a cocky smile on her face, she made the two of them hug, then they began to glow and meld into each other, creating a single person. "I am the amalgam of two souls, dad. That's why I have greater control of my power now."

Elaine and John watched the hologram with various degrees of disbelief. As they didn't say anything Jean decided to focus on Phil who seemed lost in thought and pondering what major changes the girl before him had lived through.

"Uncle Phil?" The agent looked up to the redhead. "Do you remember me roaming SHIELD's offices and floors during my stay in Cerberus HQ?" The girl smiled impishly at him.

Phil loosened his tie and put a thoughtful look on his face as he tried to remember. "Yes…" He said as he vaguely recollected the tour and wander of the young woman. "You were making a good impression on everyone at the time."

Phil and Jean stared into each other's eyes, until the redhead grinned and said, "My telepathy allows me to copy skills and knowledge."

Surprise, then panic passed over Phil's face before he calmed himself; he exhaled a deep breath before speaking. "That's… Jean you are a security nightmare, you know that?"

She flipped her hair and showed teeth. "Yes."

Phil rolled his eyes at her and massaged the bridge of his nose in frustration, the girl was fun to interact with but could be rather trying to his nerves.

Jean continued speaking. "By using my saboteur skills, infiltration and engineering knowledge I succeeded in eliminating Sinister and his loyal powered clones. It took everything I had, I… I even died for it." The young woman revealed.

This made Elaine and John react, their eyes focusing on their daughter. Elaine rose from her seat and hugged her daughter. "Jean… you are here."

As her head was being caressed by her mother, Jean continued to speak. "No mom, I really died." Jean insisted. "I had to make a deal with a cosmic entity to come back to life and terminate the rest of Sinister's clones all over the planet."

Then something clicked in Phil's mind, it has been bothering him since he had seen Jean's green costume with the symbol of a golden firebird on a black background on her chest. Her Pyrokinesis and the fact that she could fly; the witnesses that woke up from their coma having seen a woman in the firebird that woke them up… "This… Jean are you trying to say that the events of-"

There was no mirth in Jean's voice when she told Phil, "I knew you would put it together, Uncle. Yes, I am partially responsible for the events that caused the falling."

Phil leaned forward, his elbow on the desk. "Jean, explain please. I don't want to think that you killed that many people…"

Jean sighed and used holograms again to explain things. It was planet Earth, humans and the representation of a bacteria multiplying inside them. "Did you know that Humanity was being taken over by a bacteria called Sublime? It was warping everyone's thoughts to reject super powered beings like me. It was some kind of sentient bacterial hivemind that had spread to all those people."

She showed nukes being launched, giant robots of a pink and purple color going after humans, taking them prisoner and gathering them into camps. She showed a dwarf person with glasses and a business suit building them and other horrors happening all over the planet. John and Elaine were now terrified, this discussion was far more scary and heavy than they thought it would be.

Phil watched everything with an analytical eye, dissociating himself from his feelings to put together the clues that he had gathered. He snapped his fingers in realization. "The proteins found in the bloodstream of everyone who died, it was it, the sublime?"

"Yeah, I used the power that the cosmic being called Phoenix force, one of the elementary powers of creation, life and destruction in the universe, to destroy it. It even showed me the future of what it would have done to us all in the long term if I failed. By 2040, there would be barely one billion people left on Earth, so I made my choice and I sent those disintegrating waves all over the planet."

Phil could barely fathom such a situation and this responsibility had fallen in Jean's lap. He looked up at her and said with emotion, "That must have been a hard decision, people died."

Jean nodded, standing up and helping her mother on her stool. "They died because their bodies were completely taken over and the sympathetic shock of the attack and the sublime dying killed the hosts. At least I helped reawaken the people that were in comas."

Anyone who says Jean Grey isn't merciful would be wrong. Phil smiled at her. "Yes, I remember that."

The agent asked a last question before he left to muse about everything Jean just told them. "That Flaming bird was you?"

The grey costume disappeared and the green and gold costume of Jean replaced it, she became wreathed in fire, her eyes and hair glowing gold like the corona of the sun. The fire coalesced in the form of a bird, a predator, the raptor species that screeched.

"That's me." Jean answered Phil.

**# # #**

**Back with Jean...  
Earth Orbit  
02:12 AM (Egypt time)**

Mom and dad needed time to digest what I've revealed to them, they needed to come to terms that I wasn't just their daughter but at the same time Emily. Phil? Phil had stayed silent the entire time after I revealed my Phoenix powers and exited the computer room with a thoughtful expression. His normal impeccable hygiene, a mess; he had begun sweating like he was in the desert when I turned on my flame.

Now, I was in orbit over Egypt and looking at the seas and Africa. The landmasses are completely different from the atlas. But you could easily see where each could fit with the other, I could easily imagine what the supercontinent Pangaea looked like.

My thoughts kept shifting from my family to Hydra and the things I want to do when everything is settled. But… the report that Nick Fury had given me after my little tête-a-tête with Phil and my parents had shown me how difficult it will be to resume my normal life.

_**# # # **_

_**(Flashback) **_

_I exited the Lab Complex and found myself in the tunnel leading to hangar one, the discussion having the effect of lifting the weight I had on my shoulders. But now my parents know about my situation. As I floated and advanced toward the exit I was stopped by the familiar form of Nick Fury in his borrowed clone uniform, he gave me the impression that he was waiting for me while looking at the fleet of Samson helicopters and the modern blimp in the hangar. _

_I landed and walked up to him, looked at what he was watching and said, "You're finally out of the communication room."_

_He wore the eyepatch well, making me smile at the familiar sight that I've seen in the cinema of my old reality. Fury had a yellow folder full of paper under his arm, he took it and slapped it on my chest. "Take this."_

_I wanted to glare at him for his abruptness, but I refrained to do that; as I held the folder in my hand, I opened it. "What is it?"_

_The title was what strikes me at first. "Huh, Operation Clean Sweep, what a fancy name."_

_Fury who had kept silent spoke again. "Hydra has infiltrated everywhere and deeper than we ever thought."_

_It took me five minutes to speed read through the plan and peruse over the list of the members of the Hydra high command. It painted a sad picture of what we were up against and the plan to dislodge them was almost impossible, it was bold and unthinkable. I looked up from the folder. "Those fuckers are basically the government at this point, Fury."_

"_Not for long…" The bald man smiled at me._

_I hoped, truly hoped that his plan didn't revolve around me taking them on by my little self. "I may be powerful but I cannot take them all."_

_Fury was waiting for those words and he began his sell. "That is why I need you to go fetch the agents loyal to me and vet them with your telepathic ability and use your fancy portal to bring them here and later coordinate with us to take down those Motherfuckers."_

_I closed the folder and looked at him, hard. "It's not like I have a choice in the matter, I want my life back."_

_He grinned. "We agree on this then?"_

_I nodded, hesitantly._

_With a triumphant smile, Fury said, "Excellent, I will contact you as soon as I know when they will all be available for extraction." He turned and left toward the tunnel leading to the dormitories, acting as if I was his subordinate and that he had dismissed me._

_I called out, "Later, one eye."_

_I wasn't surprised that he stopped and glared at me, it made me laugh._

_**(Flashback End)**_

**# # #**

So now I was waiting for the signal, but I didn't think that we would be enough. We needed a game changer. Someone who could lead and keep their troops honest and used to do special ops. Where could I find someone like that who wasn't a redheaded master spy with a spider name?

**(What you need is waiting for you in the North Atlantic.)** Phoenix' voice echoed all around me, even though we were in space.

"Phoenix?" I slowly turned behind me, but there was no sign of a flaming firebird anywhere. I couldn't just dismiss what she said, this was just another one of her hints that I should do something and that life will be hard if I don't do what she suggested.

I flew from my position over Egypt to the Atlantic ocean, asking myself what was there that I knew was needed. "What's in the North Atlantic? Beside Atlantean cities and… the..! Oh my God how could I forget?"


	15. Chapter 15 part one

**(The Watcher)**

**NORAD  
Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States  
Cheyenne Mountain Division  
08:15 PM (Mountain Standard Time)**

The radar screen was clear. Occasionally, it picked-up a scheduled space launch from Cape Canaveral, Kourou in French Guiana, Jiuquan in China, Baikonur in Kazakhstan, or Kagoshima in Japan. But mostly from Cape Canaveral. On other occasions, they'd pick up high-altitude testing of experimental aircraft, or a trans-polar passenger plane, or a larger-than-normal meteor. And on very rare occasions they could track the atmospheric re-entry of one of the larger pieces of space-trash like defunct satellites past their shelf life.

But tonight, there was nothing being launched, and that was a good thing. When you were a radar telemetry specialist for the North American Aerospace Defense Command, **boring and empty screens** was the preferred status. Boring and Empty meant none of the members of the Worldwide Nuclear Club was angry at another member. Boring and empty meant that, for tonight at least, there wasn't going to be a nuclear war.

Senior Airman Jonas McConnel was bored and exhausted. His body just wasn't adjusting to not sleeping at night. But as a good and conscientious officer he would be damned if he would fall asleep on the job before he reached the end of the week.

McConnel rubbed at his eyes, then yawned. It was during this yawn that a white circle about the size of a grain of rice popped onto his screen out of nowhere, it was surrounded by an off the charts thermal signature. His computer, which thought infinitely faster than he did, immediately labeled the new contact 001-000X.

McConnel reopened his eyes and spotted the white spot on his screen. He stared at it for a moment before realizing what it indicated *Oh shit! How did that get past me?!* The contact's label caught his attention. The computer apparently didn't recognize the contact by its radar-return silhouette, which was odd. The huge thermal signature was even more so, McConnel frowned, he immediately entered the command to run the analysis program he and his fellow radar technicians referred to as the _dishwasher program_. The signal was analyzed repeatedly as the program cleaned of chaff and false returns as much as possible to get a better radar-return and potentially to identify the object. The white circle on McConnel's screen got smaller, but the -000X indicator did not change. The computer still had no idea what this thing was.

He started an impact track and, finally managing to conquer his nerves, hit his comm button. "Control, Station Two."

"_Go two."_ The voice of the current duty officer, Lieutenant Selah Williams, came back to him almost instantly.

"Control, I have a re-entry event at 58.139794 by 47.403630, angles 40 and falling fast." McConnel entered a re-confirm command into his terminal, just to make sure what he was telling the duty officer was accurate. "Contact logged at…" the airman glanced at the time readout in the corner of his computer screen. "Make that logged at 2015 hours."

"_Contact at 58.139794 by 47.403630, angles 40. Copy. Do you have an identification, Two?"_

McConnel heard the lieutenant's voice both in his headset and from outside of it, telling him that she was swiftly approaching his station. He ran the contact through the wash for a second time. Again, the best that happened was that the contact rang back with a better positional fix. That gave them its general size, but by no means identified what sort of object it was.

"Negative. No identification." As the lieutenant was now standing next to him, McConnel pushed his headset away from his ears to avoid the possible feedback squeal caused by her headset's close proximity.

"Ma'am, I've washed it three times and still can't tell you what it is." He tapped a series of commands into his keyboard and a second window opened on his screen that listed the little information he did know.

"It's reading light and hot, but… I've never seen this before. The wash says it can't be more than two meters long. Irregular return means that we don't have smooth surfaces; I don't think this is a missile at all. And the return is pretty soft, see?"

He tapped his monitor screen and Lieutenant Williams helpfully leaned over his shoulder to look for herself. He was quiet for a moment as his duty officer contemplated the information he was feeding her.

"Okay." Williams said slowly, still thinking. "So, it's not a missile, and it's softer than metal. What would your best guess be?"

The phone in Lieutenant Williams' office rang, interrupting them. She quickly went back to her office. Meanwhile, airman McConnel was observing the situation and it became even more surreal as the contact stopped and began hovering, there was no impact. Then he lost the radar-return. The airman panicked and began looking for it.

"Ma'am, we lost contact!" McConnel shouted.

Williams exited her office and cussed. "Shit! It's not the time airman, I got the NSA on the line right now! Find it."

McConnel despaired as the radar-return only showed whitenoise and the screen pixelated. "Ma'am the radar-return is being disrupted by something."

"Tssk. Well, that's not good, this is clearly interference." Williams turned back toward her own station.

The lieutenant sighed. "I'll give the CO a call."

Everyone in the room heard when five minutes later the PA system announced, "Condition set to Alert One. The count has started." On the digital screen at the front of the room, a map of the western coast of the US and Canada suddenly appeared. The contact was indicated by a small white circle in the Labrador Sea between Newfoundland, Canada and Greenland. A white line showed where the contact had been, while a red cross projected it's movement.

**# # #**

**Back with Jean…  
Labrador Sea**

"Pesky radar signals…" Fortunately, I took a page from Aeolia Schenberg and began to disrupt everything on a two kilometers radius by generating decayed baryonic particles. Orange particles of light spread from my Phoenix aura all over the sea, coloring the waters.

This was made on the fly, I didn't intend to do it but I felt the radio waves homing on me. I had to quickly find a way to mess with them, as I didn't want the military from Canada or the US to find me. GN particles were the first thing my inner science nerd came up with; it was something that could cause electromagnetic interference, leaving conventional communication and radar devices useless. I created a particle based barrier to disrupt how radar signals were reflected or scattered on an object, that object being me.

I was surprised to see that the particle barrier actually worked, anyone who says anime doesn't teach you things should be sentenced to watching _Boku no pico_. I shook my head and focused on the task at hand.

With my life-sight combined with my awareness, I focused on the sea's depth. It was winter and the surface water was freezing. But the ocean was vast and always in motion, it was quite unlikely that the ocean here would freeze; still there were icebergs floating around and glaciers underwater.

Fish went deeper in the water in cold weather, because even if the surface of the water was freezing or frozen (like on a lake or river) the water below stayed liquid and warm enough. The water was teeming with life, I continued to fly over the water, seeking a certain experimental plane. I found some debris that might have separated from it as it crashed into the water.

I followed the trail and came closer and closer to the coasts of Greenland until I reached the actual glacier and found what I was looking for. The black hull was covered by barnacles, sand and algae. It was no wonder Howard Stark hadn't been able to find the Cap, the ice was dense around the plane. One of the wings was missing and the cockpit was close to the surface but covered in ice. The radars at the time couldn't hope to pierce that mass of ice.

Happy to have finally found the Valkyrie I sought with my awareness if there was life inside. I couldn't be sure that the Cap was still alive, after all many things had been different from my metaknowledge. He was there, it was faint, but I could sense life on the ship's bridge. I grinned, *He is alive!*

With a gesture of my finger, the ice broke around the vessel, some of the big chunks began to rise to the surface. Then I wrapped up the entire plane's structure, I didn't want it to collapse on itself. Lifting the wreck with my TK I took care of flash-boiling the water around it to instantly melt the ice that didn't want to let me pry the downed plane from its grasp. With a mighty creaking sound the ancient plane came free from the glacier and began it's ascent to the surface. It appeared out of the water and slowly rose into the air. I extended the GN barrier to the wreck.

The plane was as big as an Airbus A380, I estimated that it had to have had a wingspan of eighty meters and a length of forty. I brought the wrecked plane's carcass to my level. Water was leaking from the holes, fish and sediment fell into the sea. I quickly entered inside through the side of the plane missing a wing and floated inside.

It seemed that I was inside the hangar section. I wasn't surprised to see some left over sea life, calamari, manta ray and crustaceans animals, I threw them out of the plane; as I levitated I reached the passenger compartment, then finally the bridge. There were many obstacles blocking my way, rusted pieces of metal blocking each compartment, but nothing that couldn't be disintegrated.

I didn't think Cap would have been found if I hadn't gone looking for him… he had been a bit further from the coast than I had thought he would be. I smelled the air and deduced that there was a bubble of air that must have allowed the Cap to survive in air, it was full of ice in the bridge though. I turned and in the pilot seat I saw a perfectly preserved Steve Rodgers ensconced in an ice coffin.

He looked exactly like I expected, like Chris Evans from my previous reality. He was handsome, blonde and blue eyed, he would give Logan a run for his money physically. But I didn't find him attractive in the same way that Logan or Viktor Von Doom were. Strange.

It wasn't the time to dawdle and look at men, turning my head toward the segmented windshield at the pilots seat; I cleared it with TK, scrubbing the mollusques, algaea and ice. Air rushed inside, the smell of the sea and fish. Just to be sure I spread my awareness all over the sea and wasn't surprised to find that three aircraft had been dispatched to my location.

For some reason that pissed me off, I cut off the GN barrier and instantly I felt the radar signals reach the hull and be reflected. NORAD was really stubborn. Manipulating the radio waves I broke into their communication and said, "_Turn back."_ With my TK I grabbed the two manned fighter planes and turned them around, one of them momentarily lost control before righting itself.

I opened a fifty meter portal and made for it. As I passed through, I sent on their radio, "_Don't meddle in things outside of your ken, humans."_ With a fist I closed the golden spatial aperture.

**# # #**

**(The Watcher) **

**NORAD  
Cheyenne Mountain  
08:55 PM**

"Contact lost, Lieutenant." Airman McConnel informed his direct superiors.

Captain Wilson, Lieutenant Williams' immediate superior, and Colonel Mitchell, the commander of the post, looked at the screen with widened eyes. They were already lamenting the fact that they may have a first contact situation on their hands. They had no choice but to bump up that situation up the chain of command.

After recovering from the surprise given to them by contact 001-000X, Colonel Mitchell straightened himself and said to the lieutenant, "I'll call General Lane, he should be informed ASAP. Compile a report for me Lieutenant Williams."

Williams saluted. "Sir, yes sir!"

The colonel nodded. "Good." Then he left briskly as if his pants were on fire.

Airman McConnel sighed, and returned his eyes to the screen of his computer and mumbled. "We don't get paid enough for that bullshit."

He was sure that these events were going to be classified and his security clearance raised, it would be a good thing in the long term but a lot of responsibilities. Airman McConnel's gaze shifted to the lieutenant who finally came at ease and looked at him meaningfully.

The man rolled his eyes and resolved himself to help his superior officer. "Alright, I will give you everything I have, Ma'am."

She smiled at him, and patted his left shoulder. "Good man."

"You owe me a beer." McConnel said as he returned his eyes to his screen.

She gripped his shoulder more amorously, taking care of not letting anyone see her. "That could be arranged."

**# # #**

**Back with Jean…  
Egypt Base  
Over the hidden Valley  
December 23rd, 1996  
5 minutes later**

Lugging a big ass wrecked plane quickly through a portal is cumbersome as I had to be careful of the edges. Something bad could happen if someone or something touched the edges of a portal I think. The Valkyrie was now flying over the valley and I closed the portal with a fist, it took me two portals to arrive in Egypt, I used the first to go to the UK, then the second to Egypt over my base.

I wasn't taking the risk that some super genius could trace my travel through the portal, you never know with Marvel; there were super science nerds like myself everywhere, Otto, Pym, Banner or Stark. All those guys scared me shitless and I hoped that none of them were evil in this dimension. I looked for somewhere to land the wreck, there was a big clearing at the foot of the mountain, if I remembered right there was an exit giving access to the base. I chose to put it there, it was even more accessible now.

Landing, the wreck creaked and everything trembled inside, I had to protect the ice the Cap was in from being crushed by some of the hull falling apart. I saw something fall from the pilot's dashboard and I frowned. It was a pocket watch, I floated it to me and opened it. It had a woman's picture inside and lo and behold, it was Peggy. A young Peggy, she was beautiful; I let Goldie absorb the pocket watch inside her hammer space, then turned toward Steve.

I cut the block of ice out of the plane, exploded the windshield and the armored setting for it and exited the plane. As I climbed into the air I noticed all the seafood…

"Waste not, want not." I scrubbed the hull clean of crabs, clams and oysters and gathered them into a part of the hull that I turned into a rectangular box floating around me like the block of ice containing Steve. I took water out of the atmosphere and salinized it. Hans would be happy with me if I got back to him with this… I hoped.

The man was still sulking about me leaving a dead body in the kitchen, I wanted to take care of things first before getting it squared away. At least he saved the suit for me in the warehouse. As I was too lazy for anything else I portaled with my cargo to the lab directly, I felt Gwen and Peter's presence. I frowned, those two should be asleep right now.

I shoved the Cap in my medical lab and put the seafood in the forge, I levitated to the 3D printing machine's room. Inside I saw an eager Peter wearing a black suit with an armored theme, he reminded me of the spiderman from the special reality where he stopped the burglar from killing Ben. The playboy, multi-billionaire kind.

"Peter?!" I asked surprised, *Did I create a monster or something?* I was worried.

"Here!" Peter, who had bags under his eyes and a satisfied smile, turned to me. It wasn't a costume that he made as I looked intently at what he was wearing, this was power armor.

I chuckled. "Shouldn't you be asleep or something?" As I approached him, I let my hands glide on the armor and through my power analyzed the components.

Peter blushed as I inspected his work and began cooing at what he'd done. "Err… there are just so many things that I can watch on one of those fancy tablets of yours, you know." The boy said, he tried to step back but I held onto him firmly.

With puppy dog eyes, Peter tried to tell me to let go. "Jean could you…"

However, a whip like voice rang behind us. "Jean are you flirting with Peter?"

I let go of Peter as if he was scalding hot and turned to see Gwen who looked shocked and somewhat angry. "This is not what it looks like! I was looking at his power armor! Just that!" I said in a panic, I didn't want to lose my friend over assumptions like this.

Gwen in her green t-shirt and black skirt looked comically unimpressive but the expression in her eyes scared me somewhat. She narrowed her blue eyes at me. "It better only be that." The blonde threatened.

Catching a break from Gwen's death glare that slowly eased into the 'I am mad at you' stage, I walked up to her and placed an arm around her waist. "C'mon, Gwen… pretty boys aren't my type, you know that?" She stiffened in my embrace when I touched her.

As for Peter, he mumbled something at my comment, but I didn't care. I was in no way interested in him anyway.

Gwen calmed down gradually and softened a bit, she still looked between me and Peter; still be wary. She sighed and said, "I don't know about that, I never saw your type of guy. I think you are into old guys though, that's why I am calming down and not freaking out about my best friend making moves on my boyfriend."

"Not too old though!" I answered back, confirming her theory about the type of guy I was attracted to.

I let go of Gwen who I thought looked fine, not even tired even though it was 3:00 AM or so Egypt time, her mind was active and sharp. She was full of energy. This made me frown as I found it weird to see her this peppy at this time of the day.

"Right, so what are you doing?" Gwen smiled at me and now I felt that everything was right in the world.

Then I remembered what I was about to do. "Huh, now that I think about it... I might need your help."

Gwen quickly placed herself to my side and held on my arm. "For what?"

I grinned at her and flipped my hair behind me. "Speaking of old guys… I might have found one who is still alive and cryogenized in a block of ice."

Two things happened, Gwen hugged me so fast that she had become a blur, even to me, then she let go of me and jumped up and down. "Let's go! I need to scan- I mean help this poor soul."

Then she ran, or more like blurred to the medical lab; that was when I realized that Gwen had become more than I could handle. "Yeah, how generous of you, Gwen."

Peter stepped next to me, his armored footsteps clearly audible. "Did you see that? She's been like that since you showed her this place."

Peter didn't even get phased by the fact that Gwen's superpowers were getting stronger and that she had no control over them. The fact that she wasn't getting tired at all even at this hour? It showed that her stamina was boundless; in response to my worries, Goldie showed me exactly the DNA sequence she introduced into Gwen's body and I extrapolated how strong she would become in the future.

"I may have made a huge mistake…" I revealed to Peter.

**# # #**

**Medical lab**

Gwen scanned the block of ice with a handheld scanner connected to a bigger computer. On the screen it showed a human body inside the still melting block of ice, to my life-sight it was evident that the man inside was alive. But for Gwen she had to do multiple tests with the scanner; Sinister had come up with them, they could detect various life signs, but they were incapable of differentiating between species.

"Too bad those scanners aren't accurate on what type of people they detect, I would like to be able to detect vanilla humans and metahumans." I said aloud as I watched Gwen work.

The girl slowly turned around the block of ice, pointing the game boy shaped device at it and reacting to my grievances toward the scanner. "At least they do the job… aha, you were right he is alive but weak. I think you can defrost him, but slowly. It wouldn't be good to do it in one go, his body has to get used to the temperature difference first."

"I see, we will do just that." My right fist glowed in gold and I sent a focused beam of heat that struck the ice.

It was at low power but I could nevertheless see the ice melt even faster. Little by little, mister beefcake was getting defrosted. His head was the first thing that was free from the ice, then his neck and slowly his chest. I levitated him as I ran the heat beam all over the left over chunk of ice.

The last piece fell on the ground and I made it evaporate, I kept Steve floating and his uniform soaking. It looked exactly like his old school Captain America costume I saw in the MCU movies, the difference was that he had more pouches at his belt and a service gun. "Here it is, he is free. Is the medical bed ready?"

I turned my head toward Gwen who had already made the bed with a pillow and medical sheet designed to keep the patient warm. "Yes."

She had anticipated my demand and used her superspeed to go make the bed. Like I thought, her powers were getting stronger somehow; I decided that I would address her training later.

It didn't stop me from complimenting her. "You are an awesome assistant, Gweny."

It was my pleasure to see a cute flush of her cheeks; I then took Steve's uniform, shield and gun. Gwen and I tried to not stare at the hunk's tool but it was too hard... but Gwen was worse than I and stood paralyzed. I quickly put Steve to bed and covered him with the bed sheet. I ventilated myself with my hand, "Wew it's getting hot in here."

At this, Goldie asked me, [_Questioning_: A more airy outfit, do you want?]

It seemed that she couldn't understand some certain nuance of the human language. But to hide my embarrassing mishap I decided to say, "Yes." I powered down from my Phoenix state and Goldie automatically changed into a black tank top, shorts and boots. She had even styled my hair into a long french braid.

Why did I look like a Lara Croft cosplayer? Narrowing my eyes, I asked aloud, "Are you going through my memories to choose my outfits, Goldie?"

All I got as an answer was laughter in my head, and it confirmed things for me. *Cheeky Symbiote.*

Gwen looked at me from head to toes and harrumphed. I noticed that most of my girl friends and sisters didn't like that unfair advantage of me never having to take time to change clothes. I rolled my eyes. "Okay, let's finish this." I said as Gwen and I began to link the Captain to the ECG and EEG with electrodes placed on his chest and temples.

Fortunately they were the wireless model, without wires linked to them. We placed a water bottle on a table at the bedside, while we were at it, I made a set of trunks for him too and placed his dog tags on it. I took his damp costume and dried it with a thought, same with the weapon, it was a Colt 1911, fairly well used. As I checked the ammunition, I observed that the clip was empty, I was not surprised.

The gun was set to levitate around me, and I moved on to his costume. For it's age it was well made and armored in the right place, but it could never stand up to today's standard body armor. Hell, my stuff was light years from what was in circulation in america.

I'm not going to give him my stuff, but I'll be damned if I left the Cap in a crappy outdated body armor. "I'm going to the design room, Gweny. Can you take care of mister Rogers for me?"

The uniform and shield floated around me like Steve's pistol.

"Sure, I can." Gwen nodded and began to take a syringe kit.

*Smart girl… she's going to take enough blood samples.* I really wanted to see how that super soldier serum worked, was the Oz serum any different from it?

I threw her a thumbs up. "Thanks." Then I exited the room and roamed the Lab Complex.

As I left I heard the gasp of disbelief. 'Wait, Rogers?!' Gwen finally realized whose schlong she had been staring at. It made me chuckle; I saw Peter still in the room with the 3D printers. He wasn't done working it seemed. I stopped and called him out. "Hey, Pete. Want to design an armor and gun for Captain America?"

He turned to me and let go of the gadget that was in his hands but quickly caught it. Damn he was fast! "So that's who that guy you brought back is?" Peter asked in shock.

I nodded. "Yeah."

Peter's eyes narrowed, he placed the gadget in his hand in his utility belt's pouch and said. "I'll do it."

**# # #**

**(Cpt. Steve Grant Rogers)**

**Land of dreams**

_He was still dreaming the same scene over and over, he was running after the Valkyrie bomber on takeoff in the hangar's tunnel. It was illuminated by lights on the concrete walls and powerful ceiling lamps. The smell of fuel exhaust was high in the air, but Steve ran undaunted but like always he couldn't catch up to the bomber as it gained speed. A fast car braked and stopped on the tarmac at his side. Two people were inside, it was Peggy and agent Chester Phillips._

"_Get in." Chester ordered and Steve climbed aboard with a jump and the vehicle started at high speed._

_They were slowly catching up to the bomber, they witnessed as the automatic doors of the hidden base's hangar opened, sure to let out the plane. Steve could feel that they were going to be too late and that the plane would take off and Red Skull would lay waste to the United States with this stealth bomber. Then agent Phillips pushed a button under the wheel's dashboard that they caught up to the plane at great speed. Steve maneuvered himself in a standing position, ready to climb into the Valkyrie._

"_Keep it steady!" He said to Chester who kept his eyes on the prize._

"_Wait!" Peggy shouted._

_Steve looked at her, then she seized his harness and pulled him toward her and kissed him. The Captain looked into her eyes and he saw love, the same emotions that were beating in his chest since he first met her. It surprised him that it was mutual. Peggy looked at him with determination. "Go get him."_

_The Captain looked at Chester who was still driving, the man chuckled and told him, "I'm not kissing you!"_

_Steve ignored this and got himself into position. As they reached under the bomber and used the exhaust ports of the car as scaffold to hold onto, then laid on the car's hood to avoid the propeller's blade that scratched his shield. The plane was about to take flight but Steve thought fast and jumped on the landing gear wheel's just before the Valkyrie cleared the runway._

_He did it, he boarded the plane, but it wasn't time to be happy about it. Steve immediately found himself in the hold with Hydra's special bombs that were destined to detonate over American cities. As he walked inside the plane, Steve successfully ambushed the Hydra soldiers and operators and killed them. It was a long gruelling series of actions before Schmidt tried to ambush Steve who had arrived at the plane's bridge._

_They exchanged blows, damaging the controls of the bomber during their fight. The man was wiley enough to engage the auto-pilot and began to shoot Steve with his sidearm, which strangely looked like a P08 Luger pistol, but the difference was that it was an energy weapon able to vaporize humans. Steve used his shield to make the pulses bounce off and created a hole in the hull._

_Steve frowned and successfully disarmed Schmidt who fought back, the Captain didn't have any choice but to kick the man and make him fly out of the hole created by his own weapon. Schmidt cried out and passed through the hole sucked by the air pressure and howled as he fell from the sky. Steve took his shield back and then sat himself in the pilot's chair, sending a transmission to the Captured Hydra HQ._

_He always remembered that part of his memories. He always informed Peggy of Schmidt's apparent death and the status of the plane headed for New York City in order to destroy it. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily, he became aware that he didn't know anything about this plane and didn't understand its systems to turn it away from its destination._

_"I'll-I'll get Howard on the line. He'll know what to do." He heard Peggy say on the radio._

_Steve decided right there and then that he had to sink the plane in the ocean, anything else would be too risky. Because the longer they tried to figure a way out for him, was time for the plane to get closer to NYC and might cause more damage._

"_There's not enough time. This thing's moving too fast and it's heading for New York. I gotta put her in the water."_

_There was a catch in Peggy's voice. "Please don't do this. W-we have time. We can work it out."_

_There was a long moment where Steve looked at the clouds and sun in the sky. "Peggy this is my choice." Steve said, before opening and putting his pocket watch on the instruments with Peggy's picture inside. He looked at it for a longtime before pushing the centre stick forward._

"_Peggy, I'm gonna need a raincheck on that dance." The plane was slowly falling toward the ground, he decided to distract his and Peggy's mind out of the inevitable._

"_What?" Then she finally understood and gave him a time and place for their date._

_As he watched he saw the sea and a frozen ice field to the horizon. "You got it."_

"_Don't dare to be late, understood?" Peggy sobbed._

_The ice field became closer and closer. "You know I still don't know how to dance." Steve spoke._

"_I will show you how, just be there." It was a plea._

_Steve wanted to answer it, to promise her that he would come back and to wait for him, but he couldn't. But what he could do was continue to comfort her even though he was going to die. "Then it's gotta be something slow."_

_The ice field was upon him. "I'm gonna step on your-" he lost contact upon impact. Rather than crashing into the ocean, the Valkyrie impacted the ice field, where the heat of the engines melted the surrounding ice, causing the plane to sink into the ice before it refroze. He lost consciousness._

Steve opened his eyes to a vaulted ceiling and to electronic beeping noises, he shifted his head and didn't recognize any of the machines around him, he sniffed and recognized the familiar smell of a hospital. He managed to sit up. Looking at the ceiling and the wall he understood that he was either underground or in a mountain facility.

At his bedside was a glass water bottle and a white boxer. He understood that they were for him if he ever woke up. He took the bottle and began to drink the water, he didn't feel parched anymore. He asked himself what the date was, where was he?

Then the door at the end of the room slid open and a gorgeous redhead, barely a young woman in a scandalous outfit consisting of shorts and tank top entered. She was showing too much skin and Steve barely knew where to look, so he settled on her face. The redhead smiled at him, then chuckled for no reason, or maybe it was at him and his dumbfounded expression. In each of her hands she had his shield and a suitcase.

"Captain Steve Rogers. Welcome back." She greeted him, as she walked to him the young woman put the case on the ground with his shield.

As she finished, she lifted her head to his and for a long moment they judged each other's intention. Steve saw that this young woman may be young, but she had steel in her eyes. He guessed correctly that she had killed before, many times. Steve decided to gather information immediately, to know where he ended up and if he was in good hands.

He still thought that he was dreaming, normally his dreams were all about the plane and Peggy. "You have me at a disadvantage. I don't know who you are."

"Oh, I am sorry. I am Jean Grey, the owner of this base." She said with a smile, he looked as she put her long french braid back behind her. He kept his eyes firmly on her face and not on her cleavage.

Now Steve knew that he was still dreaming, women were not placed in positions of responsibility like this in his time. Though he wished they were, the proof that women could be incredible administrators was proved by his own mother and Peggy's work ethic. Though he still asked himself where this young woman's mother was? How could she let her stand in such an outfit.

She chuckled again for a moment, before straightening her stance and looking at him seriously. "In this suitcase, there's your new service weapon, and uniform, Captain Rogers."

"New…?" A new uniform, what for? Did the war continue? He had hoped that he was dreaming of something different for once.

Green eyes bored into him. "Captain, Peggy needs your help. She has been taken by Hydra's agents, are you willing to help me rescue her?" There was a plea in the young woman's voice.

The Captain could feel that she was being sincere and that she had a lot of affection for Peggy. As he looked into Jean's verdant gaze, Steve didn't even think, he took off the sheet covering his lower body, he took the boxer and put them on, not minding that he was giving a free show to the young woman. Steve put his shield on the bed, then crouched to open the suitcase.

It hissed open, eliciting a flinch from him. Inside neatly folded was a red and blue uniform, completely different from his usual one, made of something that he couldn't guess at. He looked at Jean and asked, "How do I put it on?"

**# # #**

**Back with Jean…  
Dormitories  
Common room  
10 minutes later **

Steve was completely different from what I expected; he was a good man, but nothing like the cookie cutter Captain America that was part of SHIELD shown in the MCU or the cartoon. No, there was rigidity, willpower, goodness and honor in him. He believed that people have good and bad inside them and that their actions showed who they truly were.

At the moment he was humoring me, observing my actions to judge what I was all about. The only thing bothering me was that Steve thought that he was still dreaming. As we stopped in the common room, I looked for Chimera. The blonde was playing with Madelyn with her ectoplasmic dragons, unicorns and animals. *Oh she learned how to make new constructs.*

When she saw me, Madelyn gasped and literally flew toward me while avoiding tables and chairs, I opened my arms and received the redheaded missile. "Big sister!"

My arms closed around her and I kissed her between her brow. "Hello, Maddy. How are you today?"

Today she was wearing a ruby red sleeveless sundress and matching sandals; she looked really cute. Madelyn made a sad expression and held onto me tighter. "Great, you are here. You have been busy lately." She finished her sentence with a whine.

Her mood oozed sadness, she wasn't even trying to play me; those were her genuine feelings as she loved me unconditionally since the first time she opened her eyes. I passed a hand through her hair. "My bad… I will make time for you okay?"

She nodded and hugged me again. I laughed at her reaction after giving her a sloppy kiss. Then she looked at my side and saw the armored Cap; tilting her head, the little girl let go of me and asked, "Who is he?"

Steve had been looking at Madelyn and I, analyzing our interactions. A smile still tugged at his lips as he watched us.

I pointed my hand at Steve. "That's Captain Rogers. Captain Rogers, this my little sister, Madelyn." I said as I introduced the two of them.

"She looks just like you." Steve commented with his gaze not leaving Madelyn for a moment. The little girl then hid behind me, still looking at him.

"Yes, we get told that a lot. As if she was my clone or something." I laughed.

Chimera chose this precise moment to walk up to us, looking fondly at Madelyn. Those two had been getting along like a house on fire lately. Madelyn though, was always with my mother or Elektra lately from what I heard, they were teaching her stuff like reading, writing and how to be a good little girl by doing what she was told. *The indoctrination has already begun.*

The Captain placed a hand on my shoulder, pulling me out of my musings. "What are we here for? I thought that we had to save Peggy."

There was urgency in his voice that I couldn't dismiss… he was right. I've been neglecting her rescue until now for the simple reason that I didn't feel that it was time. Now that I noticed… it was as if someone was messing with me. I froze when that thought passed through my mind, my hands turned into fists. *Phoenix, she's doing more than giving hints I see.*

I sighed and nodded to Steve. "Yes, but first we need a pilot. And that gorgeous blonde in the black catsuit is-" I was about to point out Chimera when Steve narrowed his eyes at my second in command.

"A female pilot?" He said with a dubious catch in his voice.

Chimera and I turned to him at the same time, not appreciating the machismo the man seemed to be exuding. It wasn't even his fault, I realized, he was brought up like that. I couldn't stop myself from being angry though. "Yes, Captain. A woman can pilot things, things have changed while you were asleep."

Then there was silence, the man's worried expression turned into a frown, his eyes shifted to the bar and the fridge, all the different screens present on the walls, the tablets on the tables ready for use. The door swishing open again as it let Fury and Phil enter who were followed by the dad squad.

Steve's eyes returned on me. "Miss Grey."

*Nope, I won't have him put distance between us.* I stepped before him and said, "Call me Jean, Captain."

The man was finally realizing that he wasn't dreaming anymore, that everything was real, his senses and the people around him were telling him that he wasn't about to be stuck in the plane I found him in again. He looked utterly lost when he asked, "Jean, how long was I asleep for?"

His emotions were so raw that they hurt me and it forced me to turn my empathy way down to not be affected by them. Still I decided to give him answers. "Fifty one years. I found you under an ice field off the coast of Greenland. You were frozen in ice, in complete stasis. I think the super soldier serum you were injected with helped you."

The Captain's expression changed completely, he looked surprised at first, then sad, he was remembering all his friends, but there was hope still burning inside him that some of them might still be alive as I had revealed earlier to him that Peggy was in trouble. He was about to say something to me when someone interrupted us.

"Grey, what the hell is happening here?" Nick Fury looked at us, more at Steve than at me.

He had without a doubt recognized who he was as he stood there, mouth gaping. I mean the costume was something of a giveaway! For once he had left his black coat in his bedroom and was only wearing clone soldier's garbs.

"Jean, is he a new refugee?" Phil asked, still frowning at Steve.

I didn't have time to give a lengthy explanation so I went for the kill. "No, he is Peggy's boyfriend."

The two agents exploded in question while the Cap was getting impatient. So it was quickly explained what we were going to do as I made them believe that I discovered where they kept Peggy and that I was going to find her. Nick was adamant about knowing how I found the Captain, while Phil asked loudly in his mind if I had exploited my future knowledge to find Steve Rogers. I found myself forced to nod and he didn't ask more.

After dropping this bomb on my two favorite agents, we found ourselves in Hangar one, Phil was giving an enthusiastic briefing to Captain America after having shown him his collection card about him. Steve couldn't deal with the hero worship so I had to keep uncle Phil on the subject of Hydra and how they had infiltrated the USA.

Phil was done explaining and Steve looked sharply at him; there was a bit of heat into his voice as he said, "So it all comes back to this OSS project, _operation Paperclip_. The country I willingly gave my life for made a deal with Hydra scientists for their knowhow. For what? To be at the top?"

It wasn't Phil who answered him, but Fury who was leaning against a Samson helicopter; the super spy shook his head and tried to give an excuse. "You don't understand Captain. After your supposed death, every country was already readying for the next war. The USSR was drunk off its victory in the war and even began research into producing another you, another super soldier. And they succeeded, let me show you the file we had on the Red Guardian later."

I narrowed my eyes to that, the Red Guardian; his story was connected to Natalia Romanova, the black Widow. The two of them were still alive.

Fury continued with the history lesson. "The world entered what we call today the Cold War. It was an ongoing political rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies that developed after World War II. You should have seen it, now everyone has a weapon comparable to the atomic bomb. It was a nuclear stalemate between "super-states": each possessed weapons of mass destruction and was capable of annihilating the other."

Fury moved toward the Captain, and stopped before him; as they stared into each other eyes, the super spy added, "We needed an edge and operation paperclip gave us that. We landed on the moon before anyone else, we created new fighter planes and other wonders of technology. At the time we thought we had it good." However, Fury's emotion turned bitter as he remembered his find and how deep Hydra infiltrated the government.

Steve snorted at that. "But now you found yourself full of squiddies everywhere, not only America but in other countries where they had fifty years to spread their poison."

Fury raised a finger at that, looked for something to say, but couldn't find any retort, and swallowed his pride to finally recognize that Steve was right. "Unfortunately."

I would have laughed if the situation wasn't so serious. I clapped to get the attention of the testosterone riddled men before me. "Gentlemen, the time to distribute blame is over. Action is needed, now we need to save Peggy; she is the only leverage Pierce and his fellows have over me and would push me into a position that I find... unacceptable."

Oh boy, there were a lot of things I wanted to avoid, like having to destroy or kill most of the guilty and innocent together. I was tired, really tired of having to kill people...

Chimera snickered nervously, interrupting me. "Yeah, we don't want the boss to be in Hydra's hands, I can guarantee that it would be bad for the world." She said as she thought about what I did to Sinister and his clone armies, at least I identified the feelings coursing through her, I had stopped monitoring her thoughts long ago.

I turned and said sarcastically, "Thank you Chimera."

The gorgeous blonde simply grinned back at me, I rolled my eyes and returned to trying to keep the boys from coming to blows. Steve was the first to address me, "What does Hydra want you for, Miss Jean?"

Miss Jean? Really? Damn, he makes me feel like an old lady. Fury reacted to Steve's question, "You didn't tell him?" finding the fact that he wasn't informed shocking.

My cheeks colored as everyone's gaze focused on me. It was embarrassing… "I didn't have the time…" I confessed, avoiding to stare into Phil's eyes, he looked disappointed.

I walked toward the Samson and opened the door and climbed inside. Chimera said in fake surprise, "Oh my goodness, the Cap must be thinking he is the only one going to go save Miss Peggy with us as support."

Turning to Steve, I saw that he made an unimpressed glare targeted at Chimera. "I am right here."

The woman simply laughed at him, then fled into the Samson and entered into the cockpit to ready it for take off.

Sighing heavily, I decided to give Steve more information. "Well… Steve." The man turned toward me, raising an eyebrow at my casual use of his first name. I continued undaunted, even smiling. "While you were asleep... the world has become a bit weirder. We have a lot of people who are a bit more **super** than you'd believe."

My imagery was so simple that even Steve understood what I was implying. The Captain was thoughtful for one second before his imagination went wild with strong pictures of me in his mind smashing heads and fighting like an equivalent of him. He just couldn't fathom that there were things even more esoteric in the world such as telekinesis or telepathy.

"Is Miss Jean an enhanced person as well?" He asked as he looked at me.

This time Steve did more than check me out -I had caught him looking into my cleavage- it was as if he was looking at me through a microscope. His gaze focused on my arms and legs, narrowing his eyes as he discovered that my body was more toned than a normal woman's.

Phil nodded, he was thinking something rude about me being given all the good stuff, if I read his emotions and his eye roll well. He added, "Not just Jean, but most of the women here are enhanced. The other men aren't, with the exception of Hans and Peter who have _extreme _abilities."

I grinned at Steve. "I will show you what I can do on the way, Cap. For now we must go save Peggy, _you owe her a dance after all_."

He reacted to this idle comment as if I was standing on his grave. Then he calmed down, rationalizing the fact that I knew that little tidbit because Peggy told me and that I was close to her. He wasn't wrong, I was close to Peggy and treated her like my grandma, but she would never tell me about her personal stuff like that.

Phil and Nick looked at each other, weirded out by me knowing such things; Phil less so, because he knew about my origins. Steve climbed inside the Samson, still adjusting to the strange machine. Then he put his shield on one of the seats inside. He turned to me, "We must plan more… we can't just attack this base they hold her in."

Wow, was he underestimating me? "I don't intend to attack right away, I will scout first then you and I will take out everyone there, get Peggy and explode the camp." I had something special made while doing the Cap's costume, I will use it to send Pierce a message.

I looked at Phil and Fury, intently making them understand that they won't be coming with us. Phil understood and threw me a thumbs up, completely confident that I could save Peggy. Though Nick Fury just turned heel and didn't acknowledge me. I made a face at him by showing my tongue, when I was done, Steve smiled at me, I frowned. "Did I say something funny?"

He scratched the back of his head, then went to sit where he had placed his shield. "No, it's just that your plan sounds simple when you say it like that… you reminded me of someone."

I scowled at him and crossed my arms. "I hope it's not Howard Stark." I huffed.

Leaning in his seat, he grinned, somehow amusing himself by needling me. "Oh, I don't know about that, you and he have the same… innate confidence." He played idly with the safety belt of the seat.

I glared at Steve. "That's rather insulting, Cap." I didn't like any iterations of Howard Stark I watched or read about. For an expert engineer and businessman he was rather short sighted and created more problems for his friends than he resolved.

The moment for banter passed and Steve asked, "Are we going right now?"

Chimera must have heard because it was at this moment that the Samson's engine took life and the aircraft lurched slowly into the air. Eliciting a surprised grunt from Steve. I closed the doors of the vehicle and said aloud to my new companion, "The mission has already started."

**# # #**

**USA, New Jersey  
200 km from Camp Lehigh**

We exited the portal and I deployed a cloaking field over the Samson. From the onboard computer I put us at the extreme east of the Wharton State Forest, as far from Camp Lehigh that I could go. I picked up on the link between me and Peggy instantly, they hadn't moved her at all. The forest was all sprawling park with ponds, rivers and lakes; from on high we could distinctly see some hiking trails too.

"We need to find somewhere isolated to land, the distance between the forest and the camp should be enough for our operation." I explained to Chimera.

The blonde nodded and made the Samsson gain in altitude, we were three hundred meters in the air and tried to spot an out of the way clearing or plain, even a mountain spot would be enough, but it would be too easy for a satellite to spot us. Contrary to my previous reality, Marvel 1996 was so far a tad more advanced, so I wouldn't be surprised that the army withheld the good stuff from the populace.

Let's not talk about those Weapon plus monsters, *I will totally wipe them out later.*

Chimera finally spotted a clearing big enough for our Samson, it seemed isolated from the park, near a little lake. We landed there without difficulties. The cockpit depressurized and then I was out; Steve looked at me walk out and undid his safety belt and moved to exit his seat, but I raised a hand and told him. "Stay seated." And I placed myself at his side on the seat next to his.

He looked at me, finding me to be a strange young woman. "So, Steve. I can call you Steve, right?"

The Cap nodded, and I rewarded him with a smile and decided to give him an explanation about what we were going to do. "You see, I am an enhanced person like you. But the difference is that it's not my body that's enhanced." I demonstrated this by letting my astral form step out of my body and be visible for the Cap.

Steve had frozen in his seat, his Capsicle nickname had never been more fitting than right now. Steve stood, his eyes focused on my astral body and slowly he tried to touch my right shoulder but his hand passed through it. He flinched and stepped back.

I wanted to smile at his reaction but it would be mean, so I didn't. "This is what I call my astral form, I can become invisible, pass through walls…" I said as I waved my arm grandly.

Standing tall before me, the Cap was observing my astral form with wonder. "You are the perfect spy and scout. What I wouldn't have given for someone like you back in the day."

"Maybe you had one? Metahumans have existed since the dawn of humanity, in lower numbers though." Like a certain James Howlett, the awesome Logan.

A flash of something passed in Steve's eyes, I felt his brain work on overdrive. "Now I understand some of your planning. You intend to infiltrate Camp Lehigh," I felt a twinge of sadness at this exact moment. This base had a lot of good history with the Cap. He continued speaking, "find where they keep Peggy and look at their defenses."

Similar plan but I wouldn't execute it like that. "Hum… Err, it's mostly like this. But some of the steps are different… I will look at their defenses, and at the same time look for Peggy and portal us where she's held."

Steve raised an eyebrow and crossed his arm on his powerful chest. "Portal?"

Why were all his movements emphasizing his masculinity? It was distracting, now I understand how Peggy fell for the guy. When I get them back together I hope Peggy will be patient with him, some of the comments he made to Chimera and I... worried me. I hoped that his adaptation to our era would not be difficult.

My eyes refocused on his baby blue ones. "Yes, Steve. A portal, don't you think the climate is suddenly different from where my base is located?" I said as I opened the doors of the Samson with my TK.

The wind that struck inside the passenger compartment was cold, showing that we were in the middle of winter. Completely different from the sweltering heat we were in before in Egypt base.

Steve didn't even shake at the completely different temperature. "Yes it does feel… cold."

*Freaking super soldier…* I lamented, he can't even react like a normal guy would.

Steve's gaze shifted from the winter scenery to my astral form, a gleam of interest shone in his eyes. "Are you implying that you can teleport?"

I chuckled, there were so many things I could do. "Yes I can do that too, but the phenomena we are talking about is _portal manipulation_. I can create, shape and control the size and the destination of my portals, I can go wherever I want on Earth." Instead of explaining further I showed Steve a micro portal, the glowing golden hole in reality was big enough to pass my arm through and the exit portal let my entire arm appear near him and I touched his shoulder with my hand.

*Hmm, it has some potential… Portal combat.* I realized

Steve stayed silent for thirty second or so, watching my astral form and my real body; thinking about the ramification of such power in the hand of a little girl like me. "I understand why Hydra wants you, this is…"

I snickered. "They don't know about these abilities; I have other more... destructive ones." I hinted and winked at him.

Steve didn't look impressed, but somewhat angry. "When this is over, you and I, young lady will sit together and you'll list all those for me. Going **blind **on missions isn't something I am used to doing. Is that clear?" He had tried to look intimidating, but I faced the Phoenix and Lady Death, he looked cute when he was angry.

I shrugged at that. "Sure, Captain."

He blinked at my reaction, I laughed at his expression and decided to finally go do what we came for. "Please guard my body while I'm out doing some reconnaissance."

Steve sighed, then took his gun in one hand and his shield in another. "Go, nothing will happen."

**# # #**

**Camp Lehigh**

I looked beneath me, Camp Lehigh didn't change from the last time I was there. They still looked undermanned but now that I was there in my astral form and less angry because they captured my mentor, I realized that it was a cover. There were a lot of agents and support personnel present. I sank, lowering myself onto the base helipad.

Looking around me I spotted all the guard posts and cameras; even those well hidden. I roamed around the munition depot and the hangar for the vehicles. Yes it was a hive of activity; it was weird as Xmas was almost upon us. Shouldn't there be less people here? People who had asked for leave… I guessed Hydra didn't work that way.

I continued to map the base's surface in my mind, there was no one sensitive enough to see me like Samira could. Floating to the building with the elevators that lead to the underground bunker and the research facility there; I continued to scan the minds of everyone. I learned that Pierce had raised the security here since my casual dispatch of his men who tried to take my friends and family hostage. There were cloaked guards everywhere on the surface and in the bunker facilities.

He even broke out the experimental weapons and enhanced agents that Hydra was developing. So everyone had energy weapons adapted from the Red Skull's own, that evil genius was striking from the grave it seemed… then there were the augmented guys, they felt sick and psychotic to my senses. It seemed that the version of the serum they were being regularly injected with was causing their mental capabilities to deteriorate.

Hmm, there were labs here; and some kind of storage floor with decent security. I could feel the cloaked guards moving around the place, it was also almost time for them to switch shifts. I found Peggy on the medical level, guarded by a corridor full of cloaked agents. I laughed at that, they had no idea what I could truly do, hmm, yes I would take Peggy first, then start killing everyone and take the research and important data here.

I returned to my body and opened my eyes to see that the doors of the Samson were open from each side and the Cap was standing, looking outside, he had given me his back. I watched for a long time his muscled and firm looking posterior. *So, this is America's ass.*

I sent the mental image to Chimera through telepathy. The cockpit's door opened with a shocked Chimera who looked at Steve's posterior too, she tilted her head as she admired it. "You are right Jean, this is worthy of being called America's ass."

Steve turned to us, and looked at each of us with a glare; I laughed, Chimera did the same. "Okay, girls this isn't the time. Be serious, will you?"

"Yes, Captain Rogers." Chimera and I said in sync, but we couldn't help but laugh again.

He rolled his eyes, I felt that he wasn't used to interacting with women our apparent age; Chimera may have the body of a woman but she had the same mental maturity as I, I observed. I high-fived her and laughed in sync with her; the Cap looked at us and lamented in his mind that we were unprofessional.

I rolled my eyes at his reprimand. *Fine.* It was time to talk shop anyway, so I stood up and poked Steve in the chest making him look at me."By the way Steve, there's four levels to the bunker under Camp Lehigh. A lab facility, a storage one, some kind of hospital and an administrative level beyond the one on the surface. It seems they have a lot of aircraft in the hangar here for some reason…"

He nodded, happy that I finally stopped being a pain in the ass. "Excellent, what about their level of security?"

I showed him my hand covered in a tactical fingerless glove and raised a finger at each thing I observed. "High, there are visible and _invisible _guards all around; enhanced individuals too but they are mentally unstable. Ah, and they have energy weapons too, like the one you went against in WWII, but those don't vaporize, they act more like plasma weapons, they burn."

Looking at him in the eyes, Steve never asked how I knew he encountered energy weapons in the war. He was more focused on the problems I enunciated to him. He sighed and then leaned against the Samson's right door. "This… we don't have enough people, us against everyone there? A full team is needed... I wish the guys were here."

By the **guys **he meant the Howling Commandos. Chimera looked at me, grinning; the Cap didn't realize that we didn't need anyone else. I could take this country if I wanted and didn't care about destroying it wholesale. But what was needed for this operation was finesse and stealth instead of unstoppable power. No, we would infiltrate the camp from the inside.

I patted the Cap on his armored shoulder pad. "Don't worry, we are going to come laterally at this problem." I told him and retracted my hand and turned in the direction of the base that I sensed Peggy was still in.

I conjured hologram constructs between us for Chimera and Steve to look at. "We will get Peggy first, thanks to my portal manipulation this is going to be the easiest part of the operation; then once we retrieved her, Chimera will go back to base with her and put her in medical. After that, you and I will infiltrate the bunker to gather the data and research stored here for intel. I will kill everyone on the way, stop them from ringing any alarms, and plant the fusion bomb to erase this stain from the map then we will be out of here."

Replaying the holograms for Steve who looked fascinated, Chimera interrupted by asking a question in a hysterical manner, she had begun to shake me. "Boss? A fusion bomb what for ?!"

I smiled sweetly at her, patting her cheek. "Don't worry 'mera, it's completely without fallout, I tested it in space."

What a big boom it was! I tried to replicate a NOVA bomb from Halo. With Wakandan knowhow, a cluster of nine nuclear fusion warheads encased in a lithium triteride case was a piece of cake. I exploded an asteroid the size of an Independence Day ship with that, you know the Mothership? That shit was 600 km, I had to lift a similar asteroid out of the kuiper belt and do the test near Neptune. My inner scientist was telling me that the explosion could have been bigger if I hadn't botched the synthesizing of the lithium triteride.

Chimera seemed reassured that I hadn't just built a bomb without testing it and let go of me. Steve raised his hand and asked, "What's a fusion bomb?"

Chimera and I looked at each other, then the blonde took it upon herself to enlighten the poor Cap. "Err... how to explain, it's like an atomic bomb, Cap. However, it's different as apparently it's some sort of clean nuke with no radiation fallout."

Steve looked at me with horror. "Why do you need something so powerful? And on american soil?"

It's not like they would be able to detect it yet, so I would take advantage of their ignorance. "It's not powerful." I said as I took the lunch box sized fusion bomb from Goldie's hammer space and showed it to Steve. "It's just enough to take out the base entirely, not the entire state. I did the math. And this is a message for Pierce, you don't fuck with my friends or grandma." There, I said it. No one fucks with Peggy, she's family.

Chimera went to sit on one of the passenger seats near the cockpit's entrance. She facepalmed, hiding her eyes. "Oh boss, I knew you were pissed… it's the thing with Sinister all over again!" She said aloud with dread in her voice.

Steve walked up to me and put a hand on my shoulder, it was supposed to be calming but I didn't know the guy for long so it fell short. "Is there anything I can do to convince you not to do it?" He asked with a soothing voice.

I shook my head and batted away his hand. "Nothing. After this we are going Squiddie hunting with the SHIELD agents loyal to Peggy and taking all those Hydra high command assholes. Peggy will help when I am done healing her." Oh, I would do better than healing her… I had plans for the rest of the family too.

Steve looked at me as if I was a particularly trying person to get along with. He kept making comparisons between me and Howard Stark in his mind. *Rude!*

The Captain began to tighten his helmet on his head and looked at Chimera and I with a disappointed expression. "Very well, let's do this, but later we are going to have words…"

Snorting, I crossed my arms and told him bluntly what I thought about his patronizing attitude. "Steve, I respect you... But you are not my dad, okay?"

He tried to retort to that but nothing was said. "..."

I nodded, satisfied that he understood what a bad idea it was to try to convince me to not do something. It was finally time to go. "Let's do this! Ah! Oh I forgot, take this knife, Cap." It was a tactical knife that Goldie stole from SHIELD's armory, it was one of the first things I thought about for the Cap's kit. I had transmuted the steel into adamantium, well secondary adamantium to be precise, I had had to work at it to even be able to make the proto-adamantium. A lot of energy was needed for such.

I threw it at him and he caught the knife and its sheath; took the knife out and inspected the length and metal, as well as the balance.

"This is a good knife." He said as he began to play with it by doing some kind of unknown kata.

The monomolecular edge on the knife split the air making a tearing sound as it moved. I laughed nervously, I could barely follow the Cap's movements, he was faster than Elektra sensei. "Yes, I know, it's really sharp… careful with it. It can pierce armor."

He stopped, gave me a smile for the first time and said, "Handy."

Oh god, why are those dimples so perfect? Peggy how could you not jump the guy when you could? Chimera stood transfixed as she watched him. The Cap flinched as he noticed the gazes we threw him and asked nervously, "Let's go now?"

"Yeah, sure… I am ready." I told him, fucking attractive super soldier...

"Me too boss." Chimera said as she had an energy rifle in her hand, I never noticed when she took it from the cockpit.

**# # #**

**(Cpt. Steve Grant Rogers)**

The redheaded teenage girl opened one of her portals, it was big enough for the two of them to pass through. Steve didn't show it outwardly but he just couldn't believe that such things were possible and half thought that he was dreaming still. But the pain he felt when he cut himself with his new knife told him he was being silly.

At least Miss Jean had put on a different outfit, a red leather jacket, and something she had called tactical pants and boots. There was a tactical belt at her hips and a body harness with some kind of pistols in their sheaths which he couldn't identify the make or model. The shiny and sleek silver pistol in her hand reminded him of Red Skull's own, able to shoot energy bolts.

"Okay, let me enter first." Jean said as she made for the portal, but a hand caught her shoulder, she turned to see that it was the Cap.

Lifting her head, she looked at the Captain's face obscured by his helmet. There was an intransigent expression etched on it. "No, I have the shield and armor, I should be first."

He was clearly the heavy in the group but he didn't understand why Miss Jean face slacken in anger, he was about to enter the portal when she said, "Fine, okay."

Steve stopped, he had heard the same tone in Peggy's voice before; when a woman said 'fine' it wasn't. He turned to Miss Jean and said; "You are important for this mission, all will be lost if you get injured, always expect the unexpected."

Her face gained more warmth from the frosty expression she had five seconds ago. "Sorry, Cap… I am used to being in charge, you know?"

*Oh, she's the one who normally gives orders, she must not be used to deferring to someone else. Bucky was a bit like that...* He closed his eyes as he crushed the memories of his best friend seeking to re-emerge, it wasn't the time to be lost in mourning. Peggy was alive… his Peggy was alive and that was all that mattered to him.

He reopened his eyes and gave the redheaded lassy a smile, nodded and said, "I totally understand. But I wish to impart common sense and experience to you."

Miss Jean's face became clouded in thought, reminding Steve of himself, she was clearly reminiscing the past, then she stared up at him with a sheepish expression. "Well, it's true that I made some questionable decisions before… Okay, I will defer to you for now."

He became relieved that she didn't seek to argue with him; he had seen how strong her personality was from her interactions with everyone. They respected her, but Steve couldn't say if it was out of fear or leadership.

Steve took his pistol from his belt holster and put his shield before him to protect his center of mass and entered the portal without waiting for Jean. He arrived in a hospital room, full of beeping machinery, similar to the ones he saw when he awakened. The walls were white and bland, with only the painting of a flower on the wall behind the medical bed.

The form of a elderly woman was on the medical bed, she had white hair and a similar hairstyle to the woman he kept seeing in his dreams. He didn't see an old woman but the love of his life. His lips quirked into a smile, Steve was about to walk to her when he felt his female companion arrive behind him, he turned to her, only to see her lunge at him, he was shocked and ready to deflect her assault with his shield when she hit something invisible.

Steve heard a crack and a grunt, the noise of bone cracking, he was intimately familiar with it; then Miss Jean wrenched her hand to the right and he heard another bone crack. The crackling and the visible arcs of lightning running from Miss Jean's arms to what she was holding in her hand sizzled and little by little a black suited man covered from head to toe in some kind of skintight outfit appeared.

The redhead's piercing gaze fell on Steve. "Like I told you Cap, there are some invisible guards." She stood up and dusted her hands.

Steve looked down at the body on the grey tiled floor, lost about what to think. "This isn't what I expected when you told me that." An invisible enemy, that was the stuff of nightmares and supposed to stay imaginary in his time. Well, it seemed that Hydra succeeded on the technological front.

Jean put a hand on his gauntlet. "I should have been more accurate, I am sorry." As Steve looked into her eyes, he saw that she looked apologetic.

He shrugged and his eyes focused on the occupied medical bed in the room. "Peggy is there." He walked toward it, only to be stopped by Jean.

"Stop." She said as she placed her hand on his chest as she placed herself between him and the bed. "We must check for traps first."

Her piercing green eyes were full of determination, Steve felt that she would have her way, whatever he thought. He frowned. "Why would they trap her bed?" To him, it was unconscionable that someone could trap the hospital bed of someone in convalescence.

Jean snorted and looked at him as if he was naive. "Because Pierce knows he can't stop me with conventional means. If killing Peggy can make me furious and make mistakes…? He would totally do it."

That spoke of an evil and practical mindset that turned Steve's stomach. Even Red Skull wouldn't fall so low. "I don't like this Pierce gentleman already."

Miss Jean's eyes glowed gold, making him flinch a bit. "He is no man, he is just a squiddie that will get burned." Her voice gained a certain echo as she spoke. She blinked her eyes, then the golden glow was replaced by her normal emerald green orbs.

Miss Jean turned to the bed, and with a sweep of her arms, some kind of golden light covered Peggy and the bed. From under it, there was indeed a box that was turned into dust without fanfare, then Miss Jean walked up to her and put her hands on Peggy's body. Steve placed himself at her side and looked on in worry at her, then at Peggy who had some kind of mask on her face.

"Is she okay?" Steve asked, his eyes settling on the diminutive form of the love of his life.

Miss Jean growled as she spoke. "They implanted some sort of GPS tracker inside of her and some…" The redhead tilted her head. "...poisoned Capsules?"

With urgency, Steve said, "Can you take them out?"

Jean nodded. "Easily. I just have to teleport them out."

Steve didn't care what, but he wanted the redhead to do something. "Do it, please."

Miss Jean held her hand before her hand cupped and in a flash of pale blue light, a round and silvery object appeared, it was quickly turned to dust too. Then three orbs full of a dark liquid appeared next in her hand. Those didn't turn into dust, but were absorbed into Miss Jean's hands in a golden ooze like substance. "I will keep those, it might come in handy to develop an antidote for them."

"Alright." Steve nodded.

The lassy began to disconnect the IV connected to Peggy's left arm, slowly to avoid any surprise. Then she frowned and cursed as Peggy began to seize; she took her hands from her and then suddenly they began to slowly light up with golden ethereal flames that she applied on the older female. Steve almost interrupted her but Peggy didn't seem to catch on fire and little by little the seizure stopped as Miss Jean's light fire (?) spread inside his old… flame's body. *It's not the moment to make puns, Steve.*

Miss Jean's fire stopped filling Peggy's body and retracted inside her own; but Peggy was still positively glowing. Steve could see her arteries and veins highlighted with white light, the light was stronger in her head. Steve wanted to ask questions but didn't dare interrupt her. For over five minutes, Miss Jean continued to work on Peggy, before exhaling a relieved sigh as she took her hands off Peggy.

"I fixed the damage they had done when they Captured her… you see, Pierce had made his goons inject her with some kind of memory erasing serum that your friend Howard Stark made before his death. It's not even stable for use from what I've seen from the serum's molecular structure that was still coursing through her body. I... I had to fix her hippocampus, her neocortex and her amygdala from the damage that this corrosive shit had caused. Peggy is allergic to that serum." Miss Jean said as she turned toward him and her eyes began glowing again.

Most of what she explained passed right through his ears, all he understood was that Hydra goons had damaged Peggy's brain with some kind of solution to erase her memories but she had a bad reaction to it. Steve understood that people from the nineties were smarter than the people from his era, however, they were prone to dismissing practical solutions to simple problems.

As he mused the difference between the world of now and from before, Miss Jean was caressing Peggy's brow and musing out loud, "When I get to that Pierce guy, death will be the least of his problems."

The girl was vengeful and bloodthirsty, Steve was surprised that no one had sat her for a talk about those habits of her. "I think Peggy will want to do it herself."

She turned and looked at him in the eyes, anger in them; Steve didn't recoil or show weakness. What she sought in his eyes must have pleased as she smiled predatorily. "And I will help her, if that's the case."

The man who dated this young woman was in for a rude time; Miss Jean frowned at him, but he decided to not give her the time to get mad. "Is Peggy alright to transport?"

Her facial expression shifted to one that said 'well played' and she turned to Peggy who was still in the bed. "Yes, come help me."

Peggy ended up in his arms and it had never felt so right to have her there, but they weren't out of the woods yet. Miss Jean took the bedsheet and covered Peggy with it, waved her hand to the naked wall on the right and a portal opened on the Samson duocopter, if Steve remembered the name right. They walked up to it and the door opened, the blonde, Chimera with her rifle in hand.

"Ready the Samson, you are getting out of here with Peggy." Miss Jean hollered.

Peggy stirred in Steve arms, he walked up slowly to not wake her up yet. Steve climbed the little ramp that morphed into stairs that Chimera activated on one of the Samson interior panels.

"Sure boss, I had hoped to test my new ectoplasmic constructs, but if we can be back earlier…." Chimera left for the cockpit.

Miss Jean touched another panel, typed a numerical code on the keyboard and the seat at the end of the Samson passenger compartment turned into a stretcher with the seatbelts turning into a harness.

"Put her on the stretcher." Miss Jean commanded.

He did just as she asked and put her on the stretcher, she strapped in Peggy and touched her one last time with her glowing hands to check on her health. Steve didn't understand how he got used to the young woman's ability to do supernatural acts as if they were nothing. He had questions, questions that could wait until after the mission was completed.

Jean exited the Samson and pulled Steve out with her, the two propellers came alive and then the flying craft took off. The redhead waved her hand and a portal opened, big enough for the Samson to pass. Steve looked up with apprehension as the vehicle entered the strange aperture in the air.

A hand touched his shoulder, turning his head he saw Jean smiling at him in reassurance. "Don't worry, when she wakes up, you'll have all the time in the world to catch up."

With a firm nod he said, "Thank you for this opportunity."

She let go of him, and spent over thirty seconds observing him, the intensity of her gaze was kind of unnerving to Steve.

Miss Jean gratified him with another smile. "The fact that she's old and grey doesn't seem to bother you the least."

Steve fumbled with his utility belt, unconsciously checking his mission-specific equipment. He then looked at the young woman who had been waiting for something to be said. "I dreamed of her for fifty one years."

Jean tilted her head as she looked at him and stepped back from him as if she had been burned by something and looked on in wonder. "That's true love I feel from you, you know she never forgot you? She never married?"

*True love? What is she saying?* Steve asked himself if the girl was somehow reading his feelings. *That's silly.* He shook his head. Then he registered what she had said, if he knew Peggy as well as he did she focused on her career after the war and forgot romance completely. He would have preferred that she had moved on and was happy… "I will make this right."

At those words, Jean nodded. "I will help you, Steve. You are an alright guy so far. You and her deserve another chance."

He frowned at her thinking about Peggy's white hair and the ravage of age on her body. "I don't know what you could do that could rewind the damages of time, Miss Jean."

With an impish grin, the young woman replied. "Oh, challenge accepted."

**# # #**

**Back with Jean…  
Camp Lehigh  
5 minutes later**

Exiting the portal, we were once again in the hospital room, I zipped up my jacket and Goldie phased the tactical harness and belt with all my weapons and kit to over my jacket. Steve took his pistol in hand and watched me prepare myself. I looked at the Cap's body armor, I had made do with the current armor technology I had developed previously for Cindy's first costume -Which I had subtly upgraded since, without telling her- and it was a tri-weave mesh layer still with the same motility layer and the temperature control; it could resist rifle fire and I added the unstable molecule treatment to it.

It was complicated, yet should be enough, I would upgrade it later as Peter and I didn't have enough time to make a suit to the same level as ours.

Looking through the wall, I saw that the guards in cloaked suits were still posted there. They hadn't even changed shifts yet. "When we exit this room, I'm going to make the invisible guards become visible, I will seal the corridor at both entry and exit points with my powers."

"I am ready."

I formed a construct in the form of a fist and hit the room's door, then I sent out an orb shaped photokinetic construct whose sole job would be to make it easy for us to see the suited guys. The only weakness those suits made by Hydra had, was that if they were struck with a specific wavelength of the light spectrum, they were made visible once again, the suit couldn't bend the light around them.

*Design failure.* I spat mentally with a disgusted tone as I dissipated the fist like construct, the Captain lunged into the hole I made.

Following him, I manifested telekinetic weapons in the form of Sai, they twirled in my hands; Elektra sensei's memories and my own draconian training with her had prepared me in their use. With a thought I sealed both ends of the corridor while the Cap was being shot at and defending himself with his shield. The orb colored everyone in light imperceptible to the human eyes, but all the cloaked guards were visible now.

I sent a concussive beam at the nearest one who was about to jump Steve, it caught him in the air and slammed him into another dark suited man. As their projectile weapons went dry all of them pulled their energy pistols, but Steve lunged at the guy nearest him and shield bashed him and with a crack he fell dead, with my TK, I pulled the next of them to the Cap who caught him with a haymaker in the crotch.

The noise of something cracking was distinguishable and the man fell too, screaming in soprano. I laughed and jumped into the fray between two of the suited guys, in concert they attacked one low and the other tried to punch my face, lightly jumping to avoid the sweeping kick, I landed on the man's extended leg and then pierced my other foe's forearm and sent a debilitating wave of mental energy inside his body, killing him on the spot as I supercharged his nerves and brain. Jumping again, I hit the other guy with a full powered kick to his head.

Snap. To finish him off I stabbed him in the heart with my telekinetic Sai. I felt another one of those suited guys behind me, I was about to move away or send a TK burst when Cap jumped and performed a hook kick that slammed into that guy's sternum. He aimed his pistol and shot the black suited hydra agent three times, two bullets in the heart and one in the head.

I felt the last guy about to shoot Cap, but before that I threw my telekinetic Sai into his goggled eye which shattered on impact and skewered his head. My Sai dissipated into an explosion that gradually disintegrated the bodies they were planted into; I took a P226 pistol from my holster and walked to each of the still living agents and shot them in the heart and head.

Steve watched me work as I emotionlessly took care of looting the weapons they had, they were an interesting design; I would dissect them later. Turning my head to Steve I said, "We will go to the storage level and steal some stuff there, or would you prefer going after the computers first?"

The cap looked at me as if I was a thief as I looted the weapons and their magazines and batteries. "Shouldn't we separate, to cover more-"

"No, you'd get killed without my lightwave construct, it's what allows us to see those cloaked fuckers and don't look at me like that, I won those weapons by right of conquest fair and square!"

*Oh my god did he just roll his eyes at me?* Cap checked his custom pistol, that no normal man would be able to wield. It was basically ripped off from the .454 Casull Auto from Hellsing belonging to Alucard. It was a bit long, but it did the job.

"Let's go raid the storage level." Cap huffed as he waited for me.

"That's right, Cap." I said as I holstered my pistol and let go of the TK barriers at the corridors ends.

The level after the medical one was the storage one, we took the concrete staircase leading to it, while shining the way with my lightwave construct. Cap was the tank so he went first into them, took care of the visible guards in the stairs by throwing his shield at them, making it bounce and taking them down, it boomeranged back to his waiting hand.

"I like your style." I complimented him as I took my pistol out and shot the guards fatally.

"Thanks." Cap gave me a tight nod, this time I didn't loot the guard but sabotaged the weapons by destroying the containment unit inside the energy weapons, they would explode the next time someone tried to use them.

We arrived at the guarded door leading to the storage level, I skewered the two guards and the invisible one with telekinetic bolts in the brain. Disintegrated the door and casually entered through it followed by Steve striding behind me. There were countless rows of shelves full of wooden cases with serial numbers on them.

I whistled and decided to take everything, but where could I store everything? I mean I didn't have the- oh sure I did! The UK base was big enough. I opened multiple portals and began to empty the storage level of everything into the UK base's hangar, fortunately it was empty. Thirty minutes later, the storage level was empty, no one came to interrupt me or take us on.

Frowning, I noticed that the cameras at different angles in the room were still on. "It was too easy." With a thought I destroyed them, as the boxy fixed cameras turned into chunks… I realized it didn't matter that they had seen us, the end result of this operation was self-evident. That kind of thing seemed to happen to me a lot, I decided I would dedicate a part of my time to developing electronic and surveillance countermeasures.

Cap took his pistol in hand and loaded a fresh clip into it. "I agree. They must be waiting to ambush us somewhere."

"Guard my body." I told him, as I stepped outside of my physical form and spread my awareness.

I phased through the different levels of this bunker and ended up in the command center, there were a lot of people gathered in it, mainly the commanding officers, some were Hydra, some were not. I had begun to eavesdrop.

"Sir, they destroyed the cameras, we are blind." One of the operators sitting before his console showed the completely dark partitioned screens on the big display before him.

The colonel present slammed his fist on the wall at his side. "Damn it, how did they pass the perimeter? Someone, check the entry logs!"

A female operator said as she was consulting a register. "Sir, there wasn't anyone stopped at control today, not even for deliveries."

The colonel looked anguished. "There must be something!"

I scanned his mind and the result pleased me, he was the Hydra agent in charge of this Camp, he was also responsible for the laboratory where they tested their amoral experiments. Everyone here knew what was going on, I thought about sparing the non-Hydra affiliated but this was damning...

The colonel passed his hands through his hair, putting it in disarray. "Shit, send security at them."

"Everyone?" The first operator asked for clarification.

Their superior officer walked up to them, his face deforming into a mask of anger, replied, "Everyone! You saw it too, right? They killed everyone in the corridors and stairwell with unnatural abilities!"

*How rude! My powers are natural!* I pouted at the metahuman hater.

"E-even… the experiments?" The female operator's voice quavered, there was fear in her eyes.

The colonel froze, he looked at the woman with a serious expression. "Are we still able to control them?"

She nodded slowly. "Yes sir."

The commanding officer smiled devilishly. "Send them in too." Scanning his mind, I saw the unnatural type of enhanced soldiers they had access to, they didn't even have any sense of morality left or ability to feel emotions anymore.

I chose that moment to return to my body; when I opened my eyes next I decided that it was time to hightail it, but before that…

**# # #**

**(Colonel Thomas Eaton)**

**Command Center  
5 minutes later**

"Sir! We have lost the computer network!"

Thomas closed his eyes, a migraine spearing his frontal lobe as things devolved to utter chaos. He had recognized the source of their problem, the young woman's files had been passed to him by Director Pierce himself. There was no doubt that they had already absconded with their special guest...

"Can you ask for reinforcements?" He asked Warrant officer Wallace, who shook her head lamely at him.

Things worsened even more as Chief Warrant officer Poole shouted, "Sir we just lost the phone line and the radio!"

"I have no choice then." Thomas stood up and took a stick-drive from his hidden breast pocket, he walked up to Wallace's station and slid the device into the console's port.

The Hydra symbol appeared on the screen, replacing the US Army logo and the Command Center's hidden satellite uplink activated. Colonel Thomas typed a numerical password and then when access was granted typed a short message: "Guest taken, base compromised."

"Sir, what are you-" Wallance didn't have the time to finish her sentence before Chief Warrant Officer Poole shot two bullets in her brain with his service weapon.

"Dispose of her, Poole." Thomas took the stick-key from the console and placed it back in his pocket.

"Yes, sir." The young man stood up and began the clean up.

It was however at that moment that something appeared before Thomas on the console, a metallic case, the size of a lunch box, there was a digital screen on its face. A countdown of five seconds slowly passed. The Colonel didn't even have the time to flee like his instincts told him to when his world went white.

**# # #**

**Back with Jean…  
10 km from Camp Lehigh**

A column of blue light speared the sky as my fusion bomb gift exploded. It was the equivalent of what had struck Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, but the blast was more restrained to the totality of Camp Lehigh's surface. I smelled the ionized oxygen and watched as the normally invisible neutrons became momentarily present in the light spectrum in a red band in the pillar; then the mushroom cloud was expanding in the sky and the air-blast and shockwaves of the explosion spread to my position. I covered Steve and myself with a solid shield to protect us.

We were waiting on the edge of the forest between Camp Lehigh and the nearest town. What? You thought I would let myself get swarmed by serum altered enhanced psychopaths, cloaked invisible agents and US army personnel just for the fun of it? No, I would leave that for Wolverine and the Thing, those two guys were the kind who wanted to tell a story about shit like that happening to them. To me the objective had always been to take Peggy back, steal stuff and destroy that base.

I turned to Cap who looked with an expression of fear etched on his face, he seemed transfixed. He was terrified, he looked at himself and his shield. "The super soldiers don't matter anymore."

At this moment Cap felt utterly lost, not recognizing the environment around him; I truly thought that he would have a panic attack right there. I walked up to him, slowly and put a hand on his biceps. *Oh, it is quite hard.* Shut up, hormones!

Sighing, I gave him the welcome to superhuman society speech. "Cap, the world has changed. Super soldiers, nukes? Those are nothing compared to the threats that will popup in the near future. Cap, you have just become part of a bigger universe, that you never knew existed. So… I advise you to acclimatize to this new era, you are going to see some truly crazy shit over the decades to come."

Cap looked at me, different emotions passing over his face, they settled on acceptance. He would still have things that would make him wish he had died in that plane. He nodded. "I will take this... under advisement, Miss Jean."

I smiled at him, opened a portal in the clearing. "Let's go back to Peggy?"

He turned his face to the golden aperture. "Yes, let's."

We walked up to it and disappeared through the tear in space; I had shit to do, squiddies to kill, but first we needed Peggy, and she needed to be on her A-game. I knew what I had to do.

**# # #**

**(Director Donald Pierce)**

**Cordoned area around Camp Lehigh area  
1 Km from the crater  
3 hours later  
01:02 PM**

A nuclear explosion without fallout on American soil; that was the kind of event that was now alarming everyone in Washington. They were all panicking like headless chickens as reality settled in; the United States was not prepared to deal with an attack by a terrorist group using an improvised nuclear device. The country should have been prepared, as the risk was real even if the probability was low, and doing so could have saved a great many lives.

Pierce walked up to the crater where Camp Lehigh should have been, the gravel cracked under his feet; the border of the crater was earth and stone, the air-blast of the explosion having blown away or destroyed the vegetation. The Director looked at the pit, it was a kilometer in diameter and four hundred meters deep. There was nothing left of the base, the destruction was thorough. The experiments and research that Hydra had done here had been to develop enhanced personnel and weapons, important for their eventual takeover. Hydra hadn't needed this debacle, the scrutiny alone was slowing plans that Pierce and his allies had enacted since they removed Peggy Carter.

He walked back toward the cordon, not wishing to look inside the crater, the simple fact that there was no fallout at all told him that his foe was anything but normal. Peggy Carter being rescued meant only one thing, that Jean Grey thwarted him yet again, taking away any leverage that he had to force her hand.

The mere fact that subject Grey was able to destroy one of their facilities with such ease made her a danger to their grand vision: World domination. Pierce and his faction hoped to achieve it through terrorism and subversive acts. They wanted to create a new world order with themselves in charge with the anonymity of using the SHIELD brand name.

But what was the point of this plan if a meddlesome teenage girl could just appear out of nowhere with the ability to eavesdrop in the minds of everyone she came across and reveal what they were all about? To him, Jean Grey was an operational security nightmare. Now, the SHIELD division of Hydra had to live through infighting between splinter groups and different factions of the same organization and a young woman that had more power than she deserved and the will to see their end.

The proof of it was behind him, she was willing to 'nuke' them… he had received the message loud and clear, because the utter destruction of this base proved it; they had touched her reverse scale and now they would pay the price. She seemed rather put out that her mentor had been taken and her friends and their families attacked.

*I fear that there's no way to settle this in a civilized manner.* Pierce thought as he stopped before the technicians and scientists charged with analyzing the damage and the cause of the crater.

"What do we have gentlemen, ladies?" Pierce asked jovially.

One of the scientists wearing a SHIELD skinsuit covered by a lab coat looked at him and, recognizing him, said "Director… Sir, what we are seeing here simply shouldn't be possible."

"How so?" Pierce straightened his glasses.

The man shook his head, he seemed reluctant to explain their discoveries. He looked at a female technician typing on her laptop's keyboard. She shrugged and returned to work, leaving the honor of reporting their findings to her colleague. "Err… Sir, the device used wasn't the normal kind, in fact I don't think that anyone has the technology to control the radius and the ability to make a clean nuclear device. Our techs…" The man pointed a thumb behind him "have been roaming around the crater and the woods, the geiger counters have barely beeped; though... the readings we got of the local background radiation said it was stronger an hour ago and returned to normal before we arrived, something or some process happening when the bomb detonated made it so that it faded into the local background radiation."

Pierce understood that they had nothing for him and that wouldn't do at all.

"I'm sorry to say that the technology exists ladies and gentlemen, look behind me…" Pierce turned and pointed a finger at the crater. "And we don't have it." This was the important point of this conversation.

"I can't go back to Washington empty handed and tell the old boys that someone has used some new kind of nuke on one of our bases and that we don't have answers. We must also find a way to spin this FUBAR situation so that the public doesn't panic; I don't know what you'll write in your report but it better say that it was an experiment of ours gone wrong through an act of god."

One of the technicians behind him asked, "Are you asking us to lie?"

Pierce chuckled and gave the technician an amused stare. "Lie? No. Sooner or later we will find the ones who did it and we will acquire the technology." Pierce gave them a predatory smile; the technicians and scientists stood straighter, knowing that if that happens they would be the first ones to dissect the technology and then test it later. "But for now, we cannot panic those old fogeys in congress. Do you understand?"

The scientist he spoke to first said, "Sir, we do."

Pierce nodded. He liked to give such speeches to the troops and motivate them. "What more can you tell me about this device?"

"It definitely uses Helium-3 as a source for nuclear fusion…" The man before him explained.

As he continued the scientist told Pierce that Helium-3 (He3) was a gas that had the potential to be used as a fuel in future nuclear fusion power plants. There was very little Helium-3 available on Earth, that there was an abundance of it on the moon and Jupiter, the gas giant. The cost of making a bomb using such a rare element was prohibitive and unconscionable.

*So where did she find Helium-3 to…* Pierce frowned and remembered that NASA had been reporting about anomalies in orbit and around Mars and Jupiter. *Am I fishing too far? But the infiltration of Camp Lehigh speaks of resources comparable to SHIELD, money, scientists, vehicles and personnel. Where did she obtain all that?*

Suddenly, Pierce felt that he had been underestimating Jean Grey all along. He took his glasses from his nose and looked up into the afternoon sky. "I think I need to take steps to not be swept away by the oncoming storm." He took his phone from his pocket and dialed a number.

"Darling? Yes, I am sorry for cancelling, but I have something important to tell you… I know you wanted us to go on that trip to Europe…"

**# # #**

**Back with Jean…  
Egypt base  
02:05 PM**

Cap, Gwen, Phil, Fury, and I were in the lab. Fury was looking all around him like a kid at the candy store, Peggy was on the cushioned lab table and Gwen was scanning her to see if there was anything wrong with her as she still hadn't woken up. She was wearing a grey hospital gown that I found in the locker lovingly named 'wardrobe for lab rat' -Fuck you Sinister- Gwen had also covered her in electrodes.

The computer did a reading on her vitals that were good from what I could read on the screen, however, Gwen's sad face told me everything I needed to know. Another thing to put on Pierce's head.

I was prevented from entering madness and destroying a moon in the solar system to calm myself by the next question asked by Steve. "Why isn't she waking up?"

Turning to him, I noticed how Steve was holding onto Peggy's hand, I heard a crack in his voice that had me worried. It was Gwen who answered the question first. "Her brain was more damaged than you thought, Jeanie."

*Damn it, she could have said it with more tact!* I glared at her and she averted her gaze guiltily.

"Shit!" Fury shouted what everyone was thinking.

Okay, I spread a feeling of peace to calm down everyone around me. I put my hands on each of my temples, I had to think about this; this wasn't good, I couldn't lose her. Peggy was important, to me, there was no way I was going to leave her in that state.

"What… what can we do?" Phil asked, voice neutral but with red-rimmed eyes.

That floored me, uncle Phil was emotional. I couldn't and shouldn't let him feel what I was sensing from him. He was preparing himself to mourn. I stood straighter and walked up to the lab table and put myself at Steve's side. "Well, I see I have to speed up my time table."

I had thought that Peggy would be awake and that I would have her permission to use Phoenix rebirth on her and enhance her body. It seems Marvel was conspiring against me, trying to take her from me. I wouldn't let it, I swear by Stan Lee.

I poked Steve's face with a finger and focused on him; I was looking at how the serum had amplified everything in him, it was damn scary. It was as if his body was forcefully made to evolve over millions of years in one go. I didn't mind that everyone thought me strange as I was proceeding with my analysis.

"What are you going to do, Miss Jean?" Steve looked at me as if I had become mad and almost stepped back, but my TK kept him firmly in that spot.

His body was complex and a beautiful machine at work. He had everything enhanced, life force, intelligence, endurance and stamina, dexterity, agility… "I am looking at you with one of my powers, Cap." I said aloud as I finished the scan with my life-sight.

He chuckled nervously, he had seen what I was able to do and didn't want any of those lethal abilities I possessed turned against him. "What for?" He asked.

I let go of Steve's face, having filed away the template of his body for my project, I was one hundred percent sure that I could recreate the super soldier serum, but I didn't need it. I didn't like the fact that it amplified the mental traits of the user. "I want to copy the enhancements you have and tweak them a bit to remake Peggy's body. You see, I am one hundred percent certain that I can heal her thoroughly and even give her back her youth, but making her a base human again isn't good enough for me, what we need is to make Peggy like you."

I felt more than saw Fury walk aggressively to me, he turned me and made me face him. "Grey, we didn't give you leave to experiment on our direct superior."

Glaring at him I said, "Fuck- beat it Fury. The term experiment suggests that Peggy might not survive; I didn't nuke an american base for nothing… I want aunt Peggy back."

He spluttered at my revelation, and was about to say something when Phil caught him and took him aside. They spoke for a while, whispering about something, I could hear them but I decided for my sanity that I wouldn't eavesdrop. As for Steve, he looked at me with undiluted hope, it was embarrassing. Five minutes later, uncle Phil and Fury came back and said that I should try.

Fury glared at me as if I was public enemy number one. I ignored him, his attitude almost made me throw him out of those proceedings. I sighed and clapped for everyone's attention. "Gentlemen and Gwen, the solution is clear. I have the power, I can remake Peggy, faster, better, stronger, smarter, even more powerful than ever before." I smiled as I showed them the Phoenix flame dancing in my hands.

Then I decided that a demonstration of my previous work was needed. "Gwen, show them the thing."

The blonde flinched, not liking being put upon and stared at everyone's gaze on her. She obviously knew what I was speaking about as I manifested a one ton block of metal that slammed onto the ground. "Err… are you sure Jeanie?"

I nodded. "Yeah do it."

Gwen's shoulders sagged, she let go of her scanner, placed it on the lab table and strode toward the square block. She dug her fingers into the block as if it was putty and lifted it over her head, then slowly levitated off the ground. With little effort, Gwen then tore the condensed block of metal; when I had changed her, she wasn't able to do the same thing, but like I thought she had become even stronger.

Fury looked mesmerized by what Gwen could do, looking from me to my best friend. The blonde let go of the remainder of the metal block, letting it slam onto the ground. Then I turned to the men and said sweetly, "As you can see, Gwen has powers. She wasn't born like this, but I gave them to her for her protection. There's no need to worry about me fucking this up, Peggy will be fine."

"You… since when do you have a Kryptonian on your team, Jean?" Phil stared at Gwen with the zeal of a fanboy.

That's what he got from that? Sometimes Phil was too nerdy. "Like I told Cap earlier, the world is bigger than you think. And no, Gweny is not an alien... uncle Phil."

"Miss Jean?" Steve's voice interrupted me. His armor clanged with his shield on his back as he turned to me.

"Cap?"

I felt trust blossom inside him, he was worse than Peter, the pillar of hope that rose almost blinded me. It felt warm and pleasant as he continued to speak. "Do it, everyone here wants Peggy back. But what's more you are trying to give her back the time she lost with… I-" He was having a hard time formulating what he was thinking, how strange. He was known to give impromptu speeches.

"I understand what you are trying to say. Give me an hour." I interrupted him, assuring him that I would give him back his love.

"Thank you."

After this I shooed everyone out. When everyone left the medical room, I wasn't surprised to sense that the paranoid feelings in Fury's heart redoubled; he wasn't a friend anymore, so I read his mind. What I saw disturbed me, he was already seeing me at the head of an army of powered individuals and taking on the world. Well… he wasn't too far off my goals… of having a private army to protect my people was certainly in the works.

I shrugged, cracked my knuckles and got to work.

The Phoenix rebirth was entirely dependent upon my will. The process could encompass any and all characteristics of the subject (body, mind, soul, abilities, nature), and may range from slight improvements to complete rebirth. I not only wanted Peggy healthy, but young again, at her peak; basically the same age as Elektra sensei. But I didn't want to make her just a vanilla human, she needed to be able to keep up with Steve or anyone else in my entourage. This was my apology to her for not rescuing her earlier.

Mentally I looked at Steve's stats and amplified them further, when I was done, Peggy's physical and mental abilities would be glaringly, obviously, and supernaturally superior over any kind of enhanced artificial human. I basically upgraded and streamlined Steve's supersoldier abilities ten times over. It would make Peggy's capabilities far beyond natural levels, making her immensely stronger, faster, durable and smarter than regular humans.

"She's going to be like an amazon from the old DC comics." I said as I kept my image and the changes that I want to make to Peggy in mind.

SKREEEE! I let the Phoenix Force fill my being and looked at the body before me; Peggy was aware of everything happening to her, she was just stuck in her body, unable to move, her soul was vacillating and almost about to be snuffed out.

"NEVER." My flames engulfed her, taking on the form of an egg. I felt it when I formed the cocoon of fire around her, but the change was already taking her, her body disappeared and turned into a collection of loose particles. Her soul was being safeguarded and reinforced by another part of me holding Peggy tight. And this was how I was going to completely remake her. I was now changing the conceptual nature of her body, improving its capabilities to amplify what a super soldier could already do.

It wasn't simple, but it took roughly an hour to do what would have taken Sinister at least a year. When I was done, I placed Peggy's soul into her spiritual core and it grafted perfectly onto her newly formed physical shell. Peggy was still asleep, but I felt that she wanted to wake up, she tensed; she remembered what had happened to her and was about to panic.

I soothed her spirit with a thread of empathy and infused focus and peace into her; that everything was alright. Her body went slack. I sighed in relief, I didn't want to be the first person she saw. It was Steve's moment. I tilted my head and thought about a certain Parker matriarch. *I will give her a tune up tonight too.*

**# # #**

**(Margaret Elizabeth "Peggy" Carter )**

**Date ?  
Place?**

She opened her eyes to a wall of orange and yellow fire, she panicked and punched it, realizing that it didn't hurt, she wasn't burning. Peggy was left panting as the fire dissipated, turning white and simply ceasing to be. She was in a cave… no some sort of bunker and there were countless machines around her, medical ones she guessed.

There was a door at the end of the room, it was white with a little window at its center, surely to permit the staff to see if the room was occupied. Then Peggy realized that she was naked as she felt a breeze on her skin, she looked at her arms and frowned. Those weren't her arms, her skin was too tight, her breasts were not sagging anymore. "Bloody hell."

Peggy flinched, putting a hand on her mouth as she heard herself speak, this was her voice; she didn't sound like an old woman anymore. Was she dreaming? That wall of fire she saw when she woke up, was it a sign that she was in hell? She deserved it, she had allowed a big evil to survive. Closing her eyes, she accepted her fate.

The brunette felt herself being flicked on the forehead. **Don't be silly. You are a good person, you would never go to hell, Peggy. Even if you went there I would still pick you up.**

Peggy jumped from the cushioned medical table and landed gracefully on her feet. There was a strange sense of power and boundless energy she felt but she casually dismissed these sensations as she had heard the familiar voice of her protégé. "Jean? Girl, is that you?"

A feeling went through her that could only be described as 'Duh' and she heard a chuckle. **I rescued you, and gave you back some time.**

Peggy's eyes widened in surprise. "How? You-"

**I brought back someone you need, too.** Jean interrupted her train of thought.

Motes of light appeared and assembled to form grey pajamas on her body, it was strangely snug on her and form fitting. The door opened and someone she had lost hope to ever see again passed through it. Her vision became blurry as the man in iconic blue, white and red armor strode to her and took off his streamlined helmet, completely different from the one of before.

Peggy felt as if she was in a dream, she pinched herself and winced in pain. The blonde haired and blue eyed man that she kept seeing in her dreams took one of her hands in his and looked into her eyes. Peggy sniffled.

"Steve…" There were so many emotions in just the one name.

"Peggy." Steve said with wonder. Looking her up and down, from head to toe, her hair was brunette again and her eyes sparkled with life and… sadness. The British woman caught Steve's harness at a speed faster than a cobra striking and her other hand slammed on the man's right cheek. SLAP. He would have been propelled back to the door if Peggy hadn't held onto him.

Peggy was momentarily surprised by her strength and speed; she shook her head, it wasn't the time. She glared at Steve who held onto his cheek and saw the blood on his glove showing that he had a split lip. "You're late."

Steve had the decency to show guilt, he closed his eyes and exhaled a long drawn sigh. "I… deserved that."

Peggy took pity on him as she saw that he meant it, she seized his other harness and pulled him toward her. "Shut up and kiss me, you stupid idiot."

He obeyed and the two lost all sense of time and their surroundings as their miraculous reunion continued well into the night.

# # #

**December 24th, 1996  
Lab Complex  
Medical room  
03:45 AM**

Peggy opened her eyes, feeling sore in places she would never have thought would be sore again. But she felt them slowly being soothed, and frowned at the strange sensation. She was in bed with Steve. They had done all sorts of lewd things on the medical bed and she didn't feel guilty at all. Why should she? It had been years since she had felt like a woman. She appreciated the way Steve held onto her tightly, as if afraid that she would disappear; it made her smile, because she felt the same way.

Peggy could smell sweat and sex, they had been going at it until just two hours ago and Steve had been rather… enthusiastic even though it was his first time. He had quickly gotten the hang of how to please her, bringing her to climax with clinical efficiency. *He needs more practice and I am eager to let him have it.*

But the intelligence agent in Peggy told her that she shouldn't indulge too much and should explore her new environment. However, the cage of muscles she was enveloped in didn't allow her to move; Peggy tried to pry herself from Steve's arms but they tightened around her.

"Pegs, you are awake?" Steve's muffled voice reached her ear.

She felt his hot breath on her cheek and smiled contentedly. "Yes, hun." Peggy held onto him and Steve slightly loosened his hold on her.

"You had barely…" Steve frowned as he thought, then his face cleared. "Two hours of sleep."

Peggy thought that it was longer than that, she felt like she had had at least eight hours of sleep. "Strange, I feel refreshed, I think I don't need much sleep any more."

Steve suddenly looked worried and freed Peggy from his embrace and sat upright, carefully hiding his privates with the bedsheet. "Jean told us that she would change you when she was done healing you, I guess she really meant it."

Peggy looked up, a sense of dread welling up in her. "Changed how?"

Steve began slowly fondling Peggy's hair she regaled in the sensation until her man spoke. "I don't really understand what she did, but she asked me permission to look at my body." Steve didn't realize that he should have phrased his sentence differently.

Peggy froze, then caught Steve's hand and lifted her head to look him in the eyes. "How close did she look?"

With an eyebrow cocked and a quirk of his lips Steve said, "Is that jealousy I hear in your voice?"

Harrumphing, at that presumption, Peggy sat upright then pouted at Steve. "She's barely seventeen, and you aren't into redheads."

Peggy remembered that Irish bimbo trying to get into Steve's pants fifty one years ago; she wasn't above using her position to try to sideline her to get to Steve. *God, how can I remember something from that long ago so perfectly?*

Steve put a hand around her waist, looking briefly at her chest then back at her face. Enough to remind Peggy that Steve was a man but still a gentle one.

"Never was…" Steve looked at her, as if she was the only woman that mattered to him.

To Peggy this was flattering and bolstering her ego in a way she had never felt before. She was running on a high that it was difficult for her to let go, but she calmed down, she forced herself to. "So what did she do to me?" Peggy stayed on subject.

The smile on Steve's lips disappeared, replaced by an anguished expression. He held onto Peggy tightly. "Pegs… it was bad; they had operated on you, put some poison capsules inside you with something called a miniaturized GPS tracking device. They also had injected you with-"

"A memory erasure serum, made by Howard." Peggy continued his sentence, still reliving that moment when she had felt more powerless than ever before in her life.

Her fist closed, making cracking noises. *I won't let it happen again.*

Steve nodded. "You wouldn't wake up and Jean said that you were dying, that your soul was fading…"

Peggy whipped her head toward him, looking at him in surprise. "My soul?" She had never believed in such drivel, but Jean being able to see her soul? That girl had powers that even she couldn't fathom, always using some random ability to serve her purpose. Every time Peggy interacted with Jean Grey or a mutant, they challenged her worldview.

They stayed silent for a while, Peggy wondering what Jean had shown to Steve to make the super soldier so introspective. She didn't need to wait for long as Steve spoke. "Peggy, the things she's able to do… I have a hard time believing that Jean Grey is human."

The brunette looked at him with a glare. "She's just a girl, Steve. I took her under my protection, powers or no, I will never see her differently."

Peggy had failed Jean once, but a second time? That was never going to happen.

"She could take on an army." Steve remarked.

He looked really sure of that, but Peggy knew better; the girl would never do anything to jeopardize her family. Taking down armies would put her on the map and wanted everywhere, just like Steve was. Peggy poked a finger at his chest. "You've done that too, Steve."

The blond haired man smiled. "You can also do that now, Pegs."

And there was the crux of the conversation, Jean had changed her, made her even stronger than Steve if her experience from last night was any indication. She had outlasted him in their... copulation and even bruised him; Peggy may have been too passionate in the moment. "I don't feel like it… it's weird now and I have to reassess everything that I can do. A lot of things are amplified now and my senses are out of this world, but there seems to be some built-in natural restrictions allowing me to dial down everything." Peggy looked at her hands, closing and opening them.

Steve stared at her with an evaluating gaze. "Jean does good work, maybe as good as Erskine."

That struck Peggy, Jean wasn't a scientist… not yet at least even though her knowledge and classes at school showed that she was inclined to become one. But for her to be able to be compared with the creator of the super soldier serum? "Jean is still in High school she would never-"

Steve raised a hand, making Peggy stop and told her bluntly, "Peggy, she made a nuclear bomb and used it."

Peggy's heart skipped, then she froze and looked at Steve. "You are kidding, right?"

Steve shook his head, his face taking on the haunted look of a man who had seen something that had shaken him. "No…"

Not being able to comprehend what she was hearing for a long time, Peggy prompted an explanation from Steve who told her everything he had done with Jean Grey. When he was finished, time seemed to slow down for Peggy who after swiftly making a decision, pushed any of her feelings out of the way.

Peggy became the SHIELD director she still was and said to Steve. "I think I need to go speak with my wayward charge." She quickly exited the bed, determination in every movement she made.

**# # #**

**3 hours later  
Dormitories  
Common Room**

Jean seemed to have known that she was in trouble as she was not in her lab or in her apartment. It was as she exited the tunnel leading to the dormitories section and into the common room that Peggy spotted her protégé. But she became distracted as her nose was attracted to the smell of bacon, sausages, eggs, black pudding, baked beans, tomatoes and mushrooms, toast and... was that coffee? How could those smells be so distinctive? Steve caught Peggy's arm and pulled her to a table, the furniture was spartan and without ornament. The room had a recent paint job in blue, and was covered by posters with quotes as well as some large portraits.

All this told Peggy that the work on this room was new, that it wasn't like that before. There was a gigantic screen installed on the wall, facing some kind of booth for privacy, it looked familiar, like something you'd see in a American diner from the fifties. Peggy sniffed, they smelled new and recently installed from the marks she could see on the ground.

Seeking out Jean in the room, Peggy finally found her; there was a booth with four redheads, and a blond, they all looked as if they were from the same family; it wasn't a surprise for Peggy to recognize Jean and her elder sisters, there was a younger Jean in the crowd and that floored the agent. *Since when does Jean have a little sister?*

Jean was fussing over the little one as if she was a baby, she turned her head and finally noticed her. Peggy was almost blinded by the bright smile thrown her way by her charge. "I am here, Peggy! Come please!"

Peggy strode toward the booth, her tight white sundress limiting her movements; this was one of the things she was angry about. Jean had given her something so... revealing. The bright and innocent smile of the teenager didn't deceive her in the least, Peggy knew that Jean had done it deliberately; Steve had to get a quickie after he had seen her in it; then she had to convince him that such a dress was normal and that he wouldn't have to punch anyone for looking at her the wrong way.

Narrowing her eyes, Peggy stomped as she shouted, "Jean! We have to talk, young lady!"

Everyone present stared between Peggy and Jean; the elder Grey sisters watched the drama unfold with rapt attention and smiles on their faces. Voice low and a nervous chuckle Jean replied, "Aww, don't be like that Peggy."

In a flash of blue light, Jean disappeared from the table she sat at and was suddenly before Peggy and hugged her fiercely. "I did it for you." The teenage girl said in her ear.

Peggy's arms locked around the redhead's body, in a sense she understood what Jean felt. Only her family and friends mattered to her; still, this was a dangerous path to take, viewing those around her as either allies or enemies. Today's friend could be tomorrow's enemy and the reverse was also true. It's important to respect even those you disagree with at the moment because you never know who might be helpful down the line. "Jean…"

Jean stepped back but still held onto Peggy and told her with eyes glowing. "I'd do it again. No one messes with my loved ones."

Peggy blinked and the golden glowing eyes disappeared, a smile blossomed on Jean's face. The agent sighed and patted Jean's cheek. She resolved herself that Jean would be a work in progress and that she wasn't a psychopath at least, it would have been bad for the world. "At least, I know you care."

Jean laughed. "Of course I do! You are like my fav grandma…" She checked out Peggy's body covered by the too tight sundress. "...well, you don't look like one anymore." Jean snickered and let go of her.

Peggy reddened, she couldn't believe that a girl barely out of her nappy was checking her out. "You cheeky brat, don't think I won't-"

Someone interrupted her, it was the young blonde woman at the other end of the table who stood up and walked up to her. Like Jean she wore a blue puff sleeve summer dress, but hers had floral prints. "Peggy, I am so glad you're okay."

Her voice was familiar, her posture as well; she looked like Jean but with blonde hair and blue eyes. "Who…?"

The blonde's eyes widened, there was a bit of sadness in them as well. "You don't recognize me? It's me, Elaine!"

Peggy stepped back and stared in more detail at the gorgeous blonde, she was barely twenty five and had a voluptuous body; an hourglass figure, and slightly toned muscles. Yes, now she was seeing the resemblance, she looked like what Elaine might have looked like in her youth. But Peggy refused to see it. "No… you are too young."

The snickering of the redhead at her side disturbed Peggy, Jean went to hug the young blonde woman and kissed her cheek. As she turned to Peggy she said, "Did you think I would make you young again and leave my parents in the lurch?"

*No, no you wouldn't.* Peggy thought as she looked between Elaine and her daughter. "I see." Then Peggy turned her head to the girls at the table behind them and looked at the Jean clone in particular, she didn't know how right she was with her guess.

"Who is that?" Peggy lifted her chin toward Madelyn.

Jean looked at the preteen looking girl and said with warmness, "This is Madelyn, my little sister."

Peggy narrowed her eyes at the little girl who held onto Sarah Grey as she felt shy. "You don't have a little sister, Jean." The agent said with certainty.

Jean placed herself between Madelyn and Peggy. "Sinister cloned me, technically I am her mother. But…"

Madelyn interrupted Jean. "Mother Elektra told me that calling Big sis Jean, mother is dangerous. So, she's my sister now."

Peggy looked at how the girl held herself, the childish lilt of her voice and noticed how young Madelyn seemed, the syrup on her face as she had been eating pancakes. Everything screamed toddler to her, there was no way she was that young with the body of a preteen, right? The agent didn't know what to think, she needed more information to evaluate the situation. "I think we all need to discuss this after breakfast, is that okay with you, Elaine?"

Elaine nodded and returned to the table, sat and then looked at Peggy, signalling her to take a chair and join them. "John is going to be here soon and he needs to be here for the retelling anyway. You and your boyfriend can join us?"

Everyone looked at Steve who had stayed rather silent. He smiled, then nodded at Peggy. Two chairs floated down and were added to the booth, clearly something Jean would do. But Peggy was surprised to see that it was Sarah Grey doing the moving with her mind by adding plates and loading food onto them for Steve and Peggy.

*Yes, I have a lot of things to catch up on.* Peggy realized.

**# # #**

**(Phil Coulson)**

**Communication room  
10:12 AM**

He couldn't believe he was seeing her awake, she was younger, stronger and her mind was sharper. Peggy Carter was watching Fury's presentation having confirmed her status and given the codes and passphrase signalling that it was really her. He was now briefing her about what had happened and now she looked quite shocked by what she was hearing.

Captain Rogers was at the side of the room, observing from afar, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, his face had become steadily darker and he looked disappointed; Phil couldn't even look him in the eyes, somehow thinking that the people had failed the man.

Phil's gaze settled back on Peggy who sat on a chair behind the central desk in the room. The holographic screen scrolling down with different folders and files liberated from the hard drives from Camp Lehigh.

"Have you confirmed it?" Peggy asked once Fury was done reporting.

Fury put himself at attention, "Yes, Ma'am. Jean Grey detonated a fusion bomb on a military base, project Rebirth had never ceased and had become a haven for the more reclusive and unethical scientists Hydra possess. Thanks to the hard drives retrieved by Captain Rogers and Jean Grey we know what they were all about."

The black man manipulated the mouse and on the holo-screen some videos began to play, some showing horrible human experimentation and others showing weapons testing. "Illegal experiments on humans, designer drugs and other kinds of serums to enhance the body, weapons testing… there's a lot more."

Peggy stared at the screen with disgust, her hands trembled as rage appeared visibly on her face. She watched as each of the video clips ended. The SHIELD director was now seeing how dangerous Hydra had become, they weren't just entrenched in their government, they led it and it took them fifty one years; a great number of countries were also almost taken over.

*They didn't lose, losing the war was barely a setback for them at some point as they used the United States' goodwill as a springboard to spread their ideology.*

The desk fractured where Peggy's elbows were. "And it was in New Jersey, in my sphere of influence."

The silence was deafening, none of the men present tried to console her or sugarcoat it to her. Steve looked down at Peggy, a troubled expression passing on her face.

Fury looked at Phil, then at the cap. Each of the men were in their own thoughts, but he took his courage in hand and chose to say, "Yes, ma'am."

A fierce glare was directed at Fury who put himself even more at attention. "What is being done to unveil this situation to people we trust?"

"Ma'am we can't go to the usual contacts for this. We have no means to know who is Hydra or SHIELD…"

Fury was wrong, Jean was there… but he didn't want to be indebted to her. *Too bad that I already took the necessary steps to secure Jean's help. She can see who is guilty or innocent.*

Peggy threaded her fingers together and put them under her chin. "Then… I declare that we are going dark and will start Operation Clean Sweep." Peggy looked at Phil and Fury with a fierce smile. "We will ask forgiveness later, but we are going to need to take out the Hydra High Command in our country and beyond. I took steps to secure help… and Jean Grey has promised to support us; however, it's not going to be free."

Fury let go of his military posture in shock. "What?" The man had hoped that this operation would be only with his people and that the girl would only lend them her resources.

Phil chuckled and took a twenty dollar bill from his pocket and went to give it to the Cap who received it with a smug smile. "I told you he wouldn't like it."

**# # #**

**Back with Jean…  
Bayville  
Darkholm Mansion  
08:15 AM (US Local time)**

I appeared before a driveway leading to an American colonial style three story house with a blue tiled roof and a gorgeous garden of flowers surrounded by a perfectly manicured lawn. I located Mystique there in Bayville; her current cover was that of a high school principal, she lived there with someone, I could detect a female mind inside beside Raven's.

Walking to the house's entrance, I knocked on the glossy blue wooden door and pushed the bell's button and waited. I was seeking out Raven's help for a good reason. It was time to rally the troops and fight for what was right. Fury had reluctantly given me a list of people to go pick up, most of them would be tough extractions in what I now considered enemy territory. The man was ordered to play nice with me and stay professional, so I had to meet him halfway too. So, now I treated him with all the respect I would give a casual acquaintance. I hoped he didn't mistake my fake smiles and professional body language as me deferring to him. I'd totally punch him in the throat if I knew I wouldn't lose respect in the eyes of Steve, Phil and Peggy.

After a bout of meditation I remembered details from his biography in the Marvel Database, Fury, the one who wasn't the Disney cookie cutter version was a highly paranoid individual who often made enemies of people who would otherwise be allies as in the long term he shafted them or took advantage of them for some conspiracy or other scheme. This Fury wasn't like that yet, but I saw the signs of his descent into paranoia; my instincts told me to watch my back as long as he was alive.

With Fury taking his own people and allies on the op, why shouldn't I do the same? If there was someone who was good at infiltration it was a certain shapeshifter, the first metahuman I had come to like more than Logan. And I was being careful, I didn't want him to order any of his people to stab me in the back; although I wouldn't be surprised if he did. This was why I found myself before Raven's door, I could trust her at least more than Fury.

Looking at my foot, checked if I was presentable; I was wearing my best attire of the day, a tight black long sleeved deep V neck shirt, matching black tight leather mini skirt and knee high boots.

*I look good.* I didn't opt for a jacket as the weather had no effect on me.

Sensing someone approaching and opening the door, a taller and lithe teenaged girl with brunette hair with a white lock of hair and pale green eyes appeared. She wore a wooly green sweater, black jeans and comfy bunny slippers. She looked annoyed and I felt that she was rather unwilling to cooperate from the get go. "Who are ya?"

I instantly knew who she was and it was all I could do to not fangirl over her. With an engaging smile I said, "Good morning, I am Jean Grey and I've come to see Miss Darkholm." I didn't hold my hand out to her, I knew better.

She narrowed her eyes at me. "Ya a student or somethin'?" Looking me up and down, her gaze settled for half a second on my cleavage, my hair and eyes.

I nodded. "Oh, yes she taught me a lot of things."

"Fine, ya can enter." She said, and I found her southern belle accent really attractive.

I entered Mystique's domain, waited for Rogue -because yes it was Rogue!- to close the door, she also gave me disposable slippers made of some kind of paper material to put over my boots. I watched her going deeper inside the house, my gaze firmly fixed on her ass. *The comics were accurate.*

She stopped in the short corridor leading to a massive living room. Everything was either blue, white or gold, Raven sure had a good theme there. Rogue turned to me, her eyes stormy and a hand on her hips. "Will ya follow instead of watchin' ma ass?"

Why was she so cute even… calm down me, you have Cindy remember? I sighed, "Of course, I couldn't but think how beautiful you were, you have a nice ass." I answered truthfully.

She blushed prettily, caught herself then glared back at me. "Did ya come tah hit on me?"

I chuckled and straightened a lock of hair falling on my face. "I really want to say yes. Sadly, it would be a lie if I said it, and if there's something I am not, it's a liar. I've really come to look for Miss Darkholm."

She looked me up and down, a faint smile on her lips. "Sure, tell yerself that sugah."

I shrugged, it didn't matter if she didn't believe me. She intentionally rolled her hips as she walked up to the next room and shouted: "Mom, there's some redheaded girl here for you!"

*Wow, she has a great set of lungs.* I thought.

There was silence for five seconds before a familiar voice shouted from the first floor, "I'm coming!"

Crossing my arms under my chest, I looked at Rogue, then at the furniture and decoration. This house felt lived in, not a decoy house that an operative would use to have some cover story. *So, Raven lives here for real.*

Rogue observed me, and finally acted like a host. "Do ya want somethin' to eat, or tea?"

Uncrossing my arms I nodded. "Tea please, though I didn't come empty handed either, here." Two stacked boxes of German Hazelnut cookies appeared in my hands in a flash of blue light.

"Aaah!" Rogue stepped back and fell, shocked by my display of power.

Frowning, I looked at her surprised face, made the box float around me and said, "Hmm, there's nothing to fear you know?"

Wasn't she used to displays of metahuman abilities? I found it weird that she reacted this way. I held my hand to her, with the intention of helping her back on her feet.

However, Rogue skittishly back paddled across the floor with fear in her eyes. "Stay back!"

Stomping feet were heard as they ran down the stairs leading upstairs. I wasn't surprised to see Raven in a warm and long woolen white dress. She had glasses and her blue skin and golden eyes were clearly visible; Raven's gaze instantly zeroed in on the fallen girl. "Anna!"

The shapeshifter placed herself between me and her daughter, wiping a fast kick to my face at the same time; I held a finger reinforced with chi and stopped her from kicking me in the neck. "Hi, Raven?"

Raven slightly let her stance go and looked at me with wide eyes. "Jean?!" The shapeshifter let her leg fall and straightened herself.

I lifted my head and grinned tauntingly. "In the flesh."

Raven's skin shifted back to beige instead of blue, she walked up to me. "I thought…" Then she stopped and stepped back as she realized something. "no wait... Sinister had you, how can I be sure that you are who you look like or haven't been brainwashed?"

She's the first one to actually ask the question and be on her guard, Raven was healthily paranoid. I tilted my head and sent a stream of memories into her mind, I showed her how I killed Sinister and all his clones. "That's a good question." I said and showed a wrathful expression on my face. "I killed the fucker with these hands. Not before he could clone me though."

I felt Rogue… no, Anna's fear spiked as she listened to me. Then, I felt fear coming from Raven, it seemed that showing her how I could raze the entire planet on a whim didn't do her peace of mind any good.

Raven slowly approached me, hesitantly put a hand on my face and inspected me. I could sense her discomfort and wariness slowly lower as she looked into my eyes. She gave me a bright smile with all teeth that reached her sparkling gold eyes. "Where have you been? Your parents were kidnapped by SHIELD, I heard?"

My smile quickly melted, leaving place to my lips thinning. "No, I took them to safety; someplace secret for now."

Raven pushed her glasses up her nose after observing me for a long moment. "Why are you here?"

"I've come to ask you for help." I said, and made the cookie boxes float toward her and made her catch them. She looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Can we discuss this over tea and these cookies I brought?" I bribed her with sweets, one of her known weaknesses.

She sniffed the box and her face lit up with eagerness, then looked at me who was smiling with a smug smile.

Raven harrumphed, then she nodded. "Very well Jean, follow me."

I looked at Anna who averted her gaze from mine, it made me somehow sad. Raven looked between us two and sighed. "Anna, she doesn't want to hurt you."

If I wanted to, all I would need was to nuke the house, but I didn't say it out loud. My head turned to Raven who looked embarrassed by the reaction of her daughter, there must be a story there. "Raven, you should have told me you had a daughter my age, she is so pretty."

The shapeshifter said nothing and left to prepare tea. She was still wary of me and wanted to keep her secrets, like the fact that Anna was her biological daughter. This was completely different from what I knew from canon Rogue and Mystique. *Marvel, what in the name of Stan Lee are you doing?* Another proof that I couldn't rely on my canon knowledge.

With a weary smile I focused on Anna and held my hand to her. "Here let me help you, darling."

Fear etched on her delicate and graceful face, she didn't want to touch me because her metahuman ability had awakened three years ago. I didn't even have to use my telepathy on her, her mind was so terrified and undisciplined that it was as if she was her own Imax theater and let me see her memories and projected her thoughts by shouting them at me.

"I c-can't touch you." Anna backed away a little more and her back hit the sofa.

"Oh dear, I assure you that nothing will happen if you do, take my hand." I insisted.

The fear she felt was replaced by resolve, she looked at me and took my hand, "Your funeral…"

Our skin touched and her powers automatically tried to absorb my vitality, my memories and essence; they allowed her to copy abilities. It seemed that she wasn't limited to only those, I would have to study her more in depth but for now it was easy to block her from absorbing anything from me. I hefted her up, she widened her eyes as she felt nothing rushing from me to her.

"See." I gave her my most handsome smile.

She still held onto my hand, looked from it to my face and shouted in complete awe. "How are you…?!" I let go of her, but she grabbed my hand with something akin to desperation and said, "Wait…"

But it wasn't meant to be as Raven appeared through the door leading to the kitchen and asked, "Is something the matter?"

I said nothing as I took my hand back from Anna; Raven felt quite surprised that I could touch her but didn't show it outwardly. She had a lot of self control. "Jean, maybe we should take this in the tea room?"

"Sure." I said to Raven after waving my hand at the girl. "It was nice to meet you Anna." I followed her mother to the tea room where we would without a doubt be able to talk business.

**# # #**

**(Anna-Marie Darkholm)**

Since her X-gene had awakened, Anna-Marie had been confined to a life devoid of warmth and genuine human interactions, she had resolved that she would become an old spinster with cats or dogs to care for. Slowly she had fallen into depression and closed herself off from everyone, even her mothers who had been trying to get her to control her own powers and resume a normal life.

Three years, later there was no progress and she had given up; the world had become grey and cold to her in the meanwhile. She avoided going to school and her mother had decided to homeschool her citing a medical reason like having xeroderma pigmentosum, an extreme sensitivity to UV, but that her case was mild. The fact that she was already pasty white was attributed to that fact.

But once again reality threw her another curveball. Was it god who sent someone who could finally touch her? That girl, Jean, at first seemed scary and Anna had assumed that she was one of those dangerous people that her mother invited into their house from time to time for business.

But Jean was more than just dangerous, she was loveable and charismatic, the old saying: A smile's warmth comes from the fire within the heart, described her to a T. Her smile made her attractive, her confidence overwhelming, she held herself as if nothing in the room was a threat to her.

Anna-Marie admired that in the girl, she was everything she wanted to be, bold, kickass and induced respect. Just like she did with her mother who had become really wary of the redhead as if she was a dangerous animal to whom she shouldn't bare her fangs so as to not be eaten and consumed.

As she stood in the living room and looked at the door leading to the tea room, Anna-Marie's thoughts and entire way of life were being changed. Jean Grey could touch her and that was all that mattered to her at this point. *Was it because of her powers?* She asked herself.

She reimagined the warmth of Jean's hand in hers and found herself feeling hungry for the same sensation again. Too often people underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which had the potential to turn a life around. Anna-Marie found herself in the sad position of having to reevaluate what she had been doing.

It was an hour later as she thought that God sure dealt her a rough hand, but that she had given up too early and had become stuck and unable to move forward in her life, becoming a petty and selfish girl. Just because she couldn't touch people it didn't mean that her life was over, she couldn't just sit back and settle for mediocrity and apathy.

Maybe… just maybe what they had tried three years ago wasn't for her, she had to stay open to any solution to her problem that she could live with. Like blessings, curses were not supposed to be permanent, she should make provision for her future. Jean Grey had just given her hope with a touch, Anna wanted to thank her, to be her friend to… she blushed as her mind went in intimate directions and shook her head to stop thinking like that.

Some minutes later, after her introspection; Anna, who had been waiting on the nearest sapphire colored sofa, saw Jean and her mother exit while smiling. Raven was… happy? Usually she looked stern and stoic with people who weren't family, but now she was doing it with that girl. They discussed inane things until they saw Anna waiting for them.

Raven's expression shifted from happiness to contrition, as she strode to Anna and took her hand, she said, "Anna, dear... I will unfortunately be absent for a little while…"

"Mom? But it's going to be Christmas soon!" Anna raised her voice, not liking where this was going at all.

Jean cringed and looked between the two."Oh, it's bad that I am going to separate you… do you think we-"

Raven lifted her hand and narrowed her eyes at the redhead. "After I check this base of yours."

Her mother was still wary of the girl, but she just smiled back at her, not miffed at the coldness of the shapeshifter. "Sure, shall we go find Irene, then?"

Raven's skin slowly turned to blue, her black hair reddened. "That's the deal."

Why were they talking about her other ailing mother; she was hiding for a good reason, people wanted to find her for her seer gift, or should Anna call it a curse? "Mom, what's happening here?"

"We are going to cure your other mom." Raven said with faith lacing her words.

Widening her eyes Anna, stepped back in shock. "But, you told me that-" _You tried everything._ Anna thought, looking surprised at Raven who ignored her, turned her back and went upstairs.

This hurt, the way she acted, but she was right; this was more important than some party. If they could save Irene, Christmas didn't matter one iota.

Interrupting her musing, the gorgeous redhead at her side took her hand and said, "Hey Anna, you should go pack a suitcase with at least a week of clothes. You are going to be in my base for quite a while."

For a long moment she delighted in the sensation of this girl's hand on her skin, then Anna registered what she had said. "What? Why?"

With a smile that melted her heart and a boop on her nose, the redhead said, "Chop chop, Anna."

Anna blushed, not liking how she was reduced into being a hormonal teen before this girl, she wrenched her hand from Jean's. "Fine."

"Good girl." Jean patted her head and Anna turned her back on her, walking toward the stairs and her bedroom, her heart beating like crazy.

**# # #**

**(Clinton Barton)**

**Brooklyn  
Bedford-Stuyvesant  
Clint Barton's apartment  
1 hour later**

This was it. He had deserted the academy and threw his lot in with Fury and his ragtag band of misfits. He was putting his future in danger, but what he had been told about SHIELD had sickened him. Hydra had infiltrated them, the notorious sect of no good scientist they had taken on after the second world war. This situation, if it wasn't resolved, would take a turn for the worse.

He avoided the bay window of the apartment and leaned on the wall. Through a system of mirrors placed strategically in the main living room he could glance outside to the street. There was no one coming for him, it was a relief but a short lived one as he heard someone knock three times on the entrance door of his apartment.

Clint took his pistol from his shoulder holster, went to open the window in case he needed to take the fire escape and walked up to the door.

The knocking was strong enough to rattle the door this time. He said nothing and simply walked to the door and looked through the eyelet; a gorgeous redhead was on the other side, she looked annoyed and glared at the door. "I know you are here Mister Barton, open the door."

Clint didn't think, he ran, took his jacket and his bug out bag and left through the window only to see the same redhead on the metal stairs leading down to the street. Arms crossed, she was glaring as if she wanted to punch him.

"I do want to punch you." The girl answered aloud to Clint's thought. He frowned and dismissed the fact that she could read his thoughts.

"Who are you?" The agent in training asked, he still had his pistol in his hand and was ready to shoot her if she was an enemy.

She smiled at him, looked at his weapon and snorted dismissively. For a brief moment nothing was said and only the noise of the streets and the people passing by under them filled the silence. The redhead rolled her eyes and said in a monotone tone, "They said there's a snowstorm tomorrow."

Clint recognized the start of the passphrase Fury had given him to identify the extraction agent he had dispatched to get him to his base of operation. Clint couldn't believe that this young woman was Fury's agent, she was barely what? Sixteen?

"You can't trust the weatherman, not in the winter." He answered reluctantly, this was the following phrase.

"Follow me to the roof." She said then disappeared in a flash of blue light.

With wide eyes Clint lifted his arm and pointed his pistol where the girl was supposed to be. He barely blinked and she had disappeared. This situation he was in was getting stranger by the minute, he scratched behind his head after holstering his pistol. He sighed and looked up, then sighed again and started walking up to the roof.

The fire escape staircase led to the roof, and it was already snowing. Clint walked slowly with apprehension in his heart, hoping that this wasn't a trap he was walking into. He was finally putting his foot on the roof when he saw the redheaded girl waiting for him in the cold, she didn't seem affected by the cold even though she wore something so provocative, a short black skirt, matching elaborate long sleeved black top and knee-high boots. The way she held herself was like a martial artist, she had almost no openings.

She looked experienced, and had the presence of someone older than her visible years. The illusion of the veteran agent shattered when she spoke next and rolled her eyes at him in typical teenager fashion. "Ah finally, Mister Slowpoke, you took your time." Her voice was low, cold and harsh.

Narrowing his eyes, Clint asked in a cold tone, "What is your name?"

"You won't need it yet." She said.

When she raised her hand, Clint prepared himself for the inevitable betrayal and thought, *This is it, this is where I die.* However, his expectations went unfulfilled.

A glowing golden ring slowly appeared, carving itself into the space between them; the mist inside leisurely dispersed to show the insides of a gigantic room with carved stone and blue metal walls with glowing lights embedded in them illuminating the place. Three people were already there, looking at him. Another beautiful girl with a blue skinned woman and an old Lady in a comfy and luxurious wheelchair.

"Hop on my steamboat, Barton." The redhead quipped.

Looking shocked, Clint stepped back and his head swivelled from the redheaded girl to the hole in space.

"What the hell is that?!" The agent in training demanded.

A schadenfreude expression on her face, the girl simply answered, "A portal." Her red lips forming a sensual kind of smile that shouldn't be on such a young woman barely older than one of his adopted younger female cousins.

Walking up warily before the portal, Clint passed a hand inside and realized that it felt cold and took back his hand and stammered, "H-how did you make it?"

The redhead froze, her eyes slowly glazing over in thought; then she tilted her head and said absently, "Well… this particular kind of portal is formed via the process of magnetic reconnection. Mingling lines of magnetic force from the sun and Earth's gravity that criss-cross and join to create openings like this. This phenomenon enables me to travel between two points via a shortcut in Spacetime allowing near-instantaneous passage to my desired destination-"

Clint's eyes widened as he realized that the girl was actually that smart and a nerd. It didn't bother him that she was one of those mutants he heard about in the SHIELD induction debrief, humans were humans to him, whatever special abilities they were endowed with. "Stop! Stop, I get it, you are an egg head and a nerd."

She stopped, harrumphed and threw him a lukewarm gaze, "Hey! That's Queen egg head to you, Mister!"

Clint looked at her, then noticed her cocky smile and couldn't help but guffaw at her expression. Damn, he liked her.

She chuckled at him, a breeze blew and whipped her voluminous mane of hair forward. She straightened her hair with her hands and said after a time, "We don't have the time to banter, come Barton, we need to get agent Hill."

Clint nodded and put the strap of his bag over his shoulder. "Understood." He felt that he was now walking decisively into the unknown as he stepped through the golden aperture. But he would not have it any other way. He wanted this, he wanted adventures.

**# # #**

**(Maria Hill)**

**December 24th, 1996  
New York, Astoria  
11:02**

Maria woke up with a start from her nightmare, she kept seeing the faces of agents Bradley and Reynolds; two men she had killed for betraying SHIELD, on Nick Fury's orders. She still didn't know what to think of the man, he was paranoid, competent and utterly loyal to the country. Last night, when Director Pierce had informed the New York SHIELD branch that he went rogue and was wanted for questioning. Fury betraying SHIELD and going rogue? Maria had dismissed the idea completely.

She wasn't blind, the overwhelming personnel transfers, the support staff reshuffle and Pierce's notorious attack dogs being deployed to secure hostages to make a presumed asset _compliant_. It was at that moment she understood that it was time to bug out, that something smelt rotten at SHIELD. That feeling was further enhanced when she received encrypted emails from her sponsor, Fury.

It took her all night but she had decrypted the messages and Fury was painting a really dire situation. Since then, Maria never went to work the next day and with only her bug out bag, pistol and fake ID she roamed the city, always in movement; Coulson's message in the email had given her the location of a key to a locker for the East New York station on the Long Island Railroad's Atlantic Branch in the East New York and Ocean Hill neighborhoods of Brooklyn.

Inside was a suitcase loaded with money, an assault rifle, three boxes of ammunition and gadgets with their manuals. She used a library network to connect to the internet and received further orders from Fury to go to Director Carter's second safehouse in Astoria and wait for extraction.

The bed was uncomfortable, Maria groaned as her back popped. She looked around her, and examined the grey walls and listened to hear if anyone was there. The little house was devoid of any decoration and lacked character. She was alone, but the streets were still active and there seemed to be a lot of activity before Christmas.

Maria checked the time and it was 11:05 AM, she felt hungry and parched and her feet were killing her; she never voiced her discomfort and toughed it up. Exiting her bed she went to proceed with her ablutions, she then changed clothes and put on a tactical armored shirt, pants and boots, she was ready for anything. After that she prepared a light breakfast of bacon and eggs.

When she was done, Maria took her cleaning kit and started to maintain her guns. It was midday when she checked the time next. A knock on the door of the safehouse broke her out of her routine just at the moment when she finished the maintenance on her rifle and two pistols. Maria loaded a clip in one of her Beretta M9 and stood up. She slightly parted the blue black curtain and saw that a blonde woman was waiting before the door of the safehouse, looking left and right around her, wary and expecting trouble.

Narrowing her eyes, she let go of the curtain and walked to the other room, zipped through the living room and stopped before the door. She placed her arm behind her back with her pistol with the safety off. Exhaled and opened the door.

The woman was a blonde with blue eyes, tall with an athletic build; the two looked at each other, then all of a sudden they pointed pistols at each other at the same time. No one fired a shot, they were locked in a stand-off.

"Hill." The blonde woman wore a black pantsuit, covered by a light brown overcoat.

"Carter." Maria's voice was tight and controlled as she recognized her.

"What are you doing here?" They asked in sync. They glared at each other when they realized this and holstered their weapons.

"You first." Maria decided after lifting her chin coldly.

Sharon Carter was Peggy Carter's niece, the Director of the New York branch of SHIELD; a lot of people had been giving her flak, thinking that she got in through nepotism. But Maria knew better, she was more than competent, she was an elite agent excelling in hand-to-hand combat and an excellent markswoman. The two had worked together before and Maria had been impressed by her work ethic and was briefly scouted by the Femme Force, an all-women squad of commandos. Maria had been enthused by this prospect.

However, after discovering that Maria had killed agents Bradley and Reynolds who were in reality triple agents; Sharon snubbed her after not reading all the facts and thought that she was a cold stone killer, they had words and had a fight about it. Since then, there was enmity between them.

"My aunt messaged me through secure channels and directed me here." Sharon said before being interrupted by a portal opening behind Maria.

Maria and Sharon whipped their guns out and fired inside the portal reflexively only for someone to exit it and the bullets to freeze in mid-air. A man exited, followed by a redheaded teenage girl with a glowing red hand who, with a gesture, wrenched the weapons from the two agents' hands.

"Agent Hill, Agent 13. Thanks for the warm welcome." The redhead said with a genial smile.

"Who are you?!" Sharon and Maria shouted at the same time; they were clearly distraught by the casual display of power from this young woman.

"I am here to exfiltrate you, go grab for your stuff. With that racket the police must have already been called, are you ready? I have others to gather too."

"Calm down Grey." The blonde man beside her turned to her and put a hand on her shoulder to do just that.

"I don't like being shot at and you could have been killed, Barton." The redhead turned her head toward the two female agents and glared at them, her eyes glowed golden.

They didn't step back in fear, they were better than that. Maria decided to roll with it and started by giving the passphrase to confirm the man and young woman's identity and status. Once they passed the multiple checks, Maria went to gather her stuff and quickly began to load her rifle into her suitcase, her clothes in her bags. Then began to erase traces of her presence slowly, rubbing clothes on every surface of the furniture, cleaning the bathroom, the toilet and even the dishes she used were cleaned.

Once she was done she went back to the living room where Sharon Carter was discussing enthusiastically with the redhead and hugging her tightly. There were tears in her eyes; then she noticed Maria and disentangled herself from the teenage girl and recovered her natural professionalism. The portal loomed in the room, silent and glowing. Maria could see that the other side showed a view into some kind of bunker.

They all filed inside the portal, the man, Barton, was first followed by Carter; the redhead looked at her, signalling Maria with her eyes to enter quickly. She took her courage in her hands and walked up to the girl who put a hand on her arm and said, "We must speak later once we're in the main base, okay?"

"Certainly, I have questions."

She retracted her hand, letting go of Maria who passed through the golden portal to find herself with Carter pointing her weapon at a blue skinned woman with golden eyes. Maria recognized her, she was a renowned terrorist and activist with the tacky codename _Mystique_. The blue skinned woman placed herself between a woman in a wheelchair and another teenage girl.

The moment was tense but it was defused by a simple sentence from the redhead behind Maria. "Sharon would you please not shoot my subordinate?"

Maria watched her move, the girl wasn't acting like a teenage girl at all right now; she was a predator, she was dangerous and the tone she spoke to Sharon in didn't leave any room for interpretation, it was an order.

Stormy blue eyes glared at the redhead. Her weapon was still pointing at Mystique. "Jean, what is the meaning of this?!"

"Mystique works with me, she's my associate." The redhead said it as if it was a matter of course.

Her eyes going from Mystique to Jean, Sharon couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Do you know what she did?"

The girl looked slightly sad that Sharon was acting like that. "Yes, I know. But… she's a metahuman, like me. I decided to help her; she's someone whose circumstances at birth forced her into making poor choices. Mystique has decided to work with me because she wants redemption and a clean slate and I found myself through a convergence of events that will eventually help her into reaching what she wants, not only for her, but also my people."

The old woman and teenage girl behind Mystique listened to Grey with rapt attention, there were tears in the woman's eyes and the brunette girl nodded vehemently.

*Redemption, huh?* Maria thought, she sure would like that too, to be able to stop seeing the faces of the two men she killed.

The blue skinned redhead smiled, ignoring Carter completely and asked. "Metahuman? Jean, what is that?"

Jean replied with conviction. "I don't like the name **mutant**, it dehumanizes us."

The blue skinned woman frowned at the other redhead and rolled her eyes. Grey glared at her and stomped her foot and in a blur was on her and held onto her arm. "Don't look at me like that, yes Raven we are **human**. Not that homo superior crap Magneto loves to call us. A **metahuman** is a human with superpowers, simple, and it rolls on the tongue don't you think? That's what I want the vanilla humans to call us and remind them that we are still part of humanity, we don't want to be defined by our abilities."

Maria watched as the two redheads seemed to glare at each other to see who would lose the contest of will they found themselves in. The conviction of the younger woman seemed to have won the older one over as she averted her gaze and finally said, "I will try to get used to it." Mystique shrugged then refocused on Sharon Carter who still trained her pistol on her.

Maria remembered that the young redhead had taken their weapons earlier, how did Carter get it back? Then she rationalized it as, *Grey must have given it back to her, I need to ask her for my pistol too.* Maria didn't even have the time to complete her thought when she found her pistol floating toward her.

"Here, that's yours." Grey said from afar.

Maria took her pistol and holstered it, nodding in thanks. Meanwhile, Sharon who didn't like being ignored finally gave in to reason. "Fine, Jean… I will trust you for now, but…"

Jean Grey turned to Sharon Carter and smiled. "That's all I ask, Sharon."

**# # #**

**(Barbara Morse)**

**Pym Laboratories  
New Jersey, Cresskill  
02:12 PM**

Bobbi loathed working with Doctor Pym, the man was a misogynist, he had hired her for her expertise as a biologist but didn't take her seriously. Why was she here? She should have listened to her friends and not accepted a tenure at Pym Laboratories. She had been ecstatic when this job was offered to her, but now she regretted it.

As of late, Bobbi regretted having quit SHIELD to try having a normal life away from danger and the killing. She had even become Huntress for a while and played troubleshooter for SHIELD in South America. But that life, it just wasn't for her, she just didn't want to be a killer; by having an enhanced physiology she was on the map for diverse international groups who had an unhealthy interest in her, she didn't want it.

She sat on the bench on the roof garden of Pym Laboratories, looking at flower bushes, the entire building was under some kind of climate control device inside it. It was set on tropical even though it was winter; Bobbi lamented on how Henry Pym was a brilliant man but really flawed.

The blonde recognized her employer's symptoms as she noticed how prone to breakdowns he was, the man was a genius but sucked at interacting with others and held himself and his profession to impossible standards. There was also the rumor about how he treated his wife.

Sighing, Bobbi leaned back against the bench and looked at the grey sky. *Outside must be really freezing.* She thought, and closed the lapel of her lab coat.

*I miss Clint. Where is he? He isn't answering my calls anymore.* Bobbi thought with relish, she missed him. He had chosen to stay with SHIELD for his career and they were having a long distance relationship. They took time to see each other, but she missed that proximity and accessibility to his body, the man was attractive, fit and skilled.

They had unfortunately drifted into becoming email buddies, she didn't want to break off the relationship; she loved the guy. She had resolved herself to wait for him to be out of the SHIELD academy. As she thought about diverse things, Bobbi failed to notice a golden portal opening behind her. A tall blonde and blue eyed man slowly creeped up to her and blew air in her left ear.

"Aaaah!" Bobbi jumped in fright, she turned and somersaulted back, five meters from the bench.

In a crouching position, she lifted her head to gaze at her assailant and was surprised to find the love of her life looking at her with a goofy grin and waving stupidly at her. "Darling, I'm back!" It was Clint, he wore a heavy black jacket, a grey woolen sweater and dark blue jeans.

Her eyes widened in recognition and she quickly stood up and said, "Clint, is that you?!"

"Of course babe, come here." He signalled her to come give him a hug with his hand in a 'come on' gesture.

She didn't think, she ran and threw herself into his arms, locked her legs around him, then smashed her lips against his. Clint's arms encircled her, holding onto her as sure and hard as a vice and kissed her back, softly at first, and then with a swift gradation of intensity that made Bobbi cling to him as the only solid thing in a dizzy swaying world.

**Cough**. But someone chose to interrupt the happiness of the two lovers. Bobbi stopped kissing Clint and looked behind him and saw a gorgeous redhead, maybe five or six years younger than her. She looked embarrassed and averted her gaze from Bobbi's blue eyes.

"You two lovebirds need to cool it, we don't have much time." The redhead said as she crossed her arms and raised an annoyed gaze at them.

Bobbi's eyes narrowed, she didn't like how that girl interrupted their nookie time. *Who is she?*

Clint reluctantly and delicately put Bobbi on the ground after making her let go of him. He looked sheepish but still held onto her body. "Oh, sorry Jean… it's been a while since I've seen my girlfriend." He turned his head to her and in that moment she saw how much he cared for her and loved her.

That was one of the reasons why she didn't break it off with him even though their careers didn't seem to agree with each other. Where would she find a guy who loved her for her, and not for her body, listened to her and who was willing to let go of everything to just see her? They were either all taken or gay, she would never let go of Clint.

Laughing, the redhead stepped back from the two of them as if she was being scalded, she wiped her arms with her hand and had a facial expression showing mild pain. "Well yeah, no shit Barton; her too… she's really in love with you, why haven't you put a ring on her yet?"

And just like the seasons, Bobbi's opinion of the girl changed and she found her interesting and friendly. Clint also seemed to defer to her in some fashion. She too wanted answers about why he didn't ask her yet.

With the eyes of the female population of this roof on him, Clint felt as if he was being measured and gauged. "That's…" He wanted to speak but he couldn't get anything out. With the perspective he had now, Clint didn't understand why he should give the rest of his life to SHIELD, he wanted adventure, yes but to work for the bad guys unwittingly? *Fuck no, I want to do good but, do I want to tie myself to an organization that has been perverted and twisted?*

He looked at Jean and she gave him one of her bright smiles, it was like she was reading his mind sometimes. Barbara saw the looks they exchanged and placed herself between them and asked, "Excuse me? But who are you?"

Clint went quiet, looked at Bobbi, then at Jean who lifted her hand in appeasement, smiled at Bobbi pleasantly and said, "I am Jean, everything will be explained later, you need to come with us."

Bobbi waved her off with a hand, "Ha but… I can't, I have work."

The redhead tilted her head, then a shark-like grin spread on her face. "Work, really? You are working for that crazy wife beating dumbass, Henry Pym." She walked up to her, and stopped at one meter from her and looked into Bobbi's blue eyes. "He doesn't deserve anything, neither your time nor your loyalty, if you want to do good work, I will hire you, Miss Morse."

Bobbi was struck by shock, the girl just struck a nerve. She was voicing everything she thought of the man she worked for. Barbara Morse wanted to do good, to be something other than a weapon for others, she felt that this girl was giving her a pep talk at the same time. *Hire me? Who is that girl, how can she be so... Confident? What does she want from me?*

Clint placed himself at Bobbi's side and glared jokingly at Jean. "She's Miss Morse? Why? And you call me Barton… I should get respect too!"

Jean looked at him for one second, rolled her eyes and addressed Bobbi once more, "Right, anyway we will speak about your employment later." The redhead said as if it was a foretold conclusion. With a determined look she pointed a finger at Bobbi. "We need you, Mockingjay, to save this country and as an incentive… you can spend time with your boyfriend at the same time, he is out of school anyway, isn't that great?"

"Hey don't ignore me!" Clint shouted out.

Bobbi was tempted, really tempted to just say yes for the hell of it. She missed Clint so much, but she was an adult and had responsibilities. "Shh, Clint, she's making a compelling argument there." The blonde woman said with a pacificating hand on Clint's right arm.

Jean squinted her eyes at Clint who smiled nervously and averted his eyes from her. The redhead then looked back at Bobbi, continuing her soft sell. "I heard that you were a mercenary too, if patriotism doesn't do it, I am willing to appeal to your greed, I am willing to give you one hundred million dollars for your service, fifty upfront, you get the rest when you are done."

The blonde made a double take, and Clint gasped. "Where would a teenage girl get all that money…?"

With all the pride and confidence she could muster, Jean answered, "I'm currently the richest teenage girl on Earth, Richie Rich has nothing on me."

Clint raised a finger and laughed. "I saw that movie! It was good!"

Bobbi smiled at her boyfriend. "We saw it together Clint, yes, be silent please." She patted him on the head and segued back into the conversation. "So, Jean, right? You seem to know who I am, what's the deal, why did you come get me?"

With a serious expression, the redhead said bluntly, "You left a big paper trail at SHIELD, and let's just say I am taking you out of play as it seems that some _people _will want to use you against us." Her eyes seemed to gain an inner light as she said that, it frightened Bobbi, then when she blinked, the redhead's eyes were normal.

Jean looked at the goof Clint. "And I don't want to see Clint hurt, the poor guy can't stop thinking about you all the time, he is easily distracted... you should really put a ring on him." She insisted.

Bobbi sighed, but she smiled as she put an arm around Clint's waist. "That's the plan after he stops wanting to play spy…"

Clint jumped in surprised and looked at the bodacious blonde. "Babe, really?" With a thoughtful expression. He said aloud, "I should have asked when I wanted to, I have the ring and all…"

That was news to Bobbi! Why didn't he ask?! She bopped him on the head, glaring at him for not having done it.

Jean laughed at them. "He's a goof too, that's a pleasant trait."

It took a minute of consideration, but Bobbi decided that she wanted to be with Clint. *Fuck Pym.* And she flipped her hair back and said, "Okay, I am coming with you, and I have had enough of this place anyway. Pym is an asshole."

"Welcome to Star Lab." Jean gave her a million watt smile and held her hand to Bobbi who shook it with enthusiasm.

As she still held onto her, Jean grandely waved her free hand and a hole in space opened with golden light. The borders shone gold and the misty shroud hiding the inside parted, Bobbi could see a great number of people waiting on the other side. She stepped back, scared. "W-what is t-that?! I-is it safe?"

"Pass through it and find out." As she said this, Jean passed through the golden portal with a smirk.

Bobbi turned her surprised gaze on her lover. "Clint, honey is it…"

Clint smiled, held his hand and said, "Yes babe, it is, hop in."

"O-okay." Bobbi trusted her man implicitly, she took his hand without hesitating, they then entered the portal not knowing that they would never regret the decision they made to follow a certain redhead.

**# # #**

**(Anna-Marie Darkholm)**

**Gathering point  
Alaska base  
01:21 PM**

Anna looked on as Jean kept looking for people, the gathering point was getting kind of crowded. The agents were giving a wide berth to her mother, her second mom and herself. She didn't like it at all, however they all seemed professional enough to ignore them. *Still I can't believe Jean owns everything here.*

They were in a cavern, but it didn't feel like one, the ceiling was made of stone and Anna could see some supports holding it up, the walls were covered in some kind of metal with bright electrical lights embedded into them every two meters. There were further facilities available but Jean had blocked the tunnels leading to them with some kind of wide lock down code she typed into a tablet that she made appear out of nowhere.

Anna now knew that Jean wasn't an idiot, she was doing a favor to the people who needed her and her mother, but she didn't want to let those people see what she had. As a result of this, Anna understood that she didn't trust any of them beside her mother, so she stayed well away from those shady people. To her they moved like soldiers or something, their cold eyes on her and her family showed her that they would totally kill her and not think of the consequences.

A portal opened and two people ran out of it, the brown haired woman amongst them turned left and rolled, the second person, a man turned right and out of it came another third person, a powerfully built man with black on black costume slamming into the facing cavern wall as he was struck by a powerful red beam.

Out of the portal, walked Jean with red glowing eyes, slowly moving toward the man; her arms crackled with arcs of blue electricity. As Anna looked on in morbid fascination, she felt a hand on her shoulder and saw that her mother sported a dead serious expression.

"Mom, what is she going to do?" Anna asked, she knew what was going to happen but she just hoped that she was wrong.

Raven hugged her daughter and made it so that she couldn't look behind her. "Put your hands on your ears, Anna."

The brown haired girl frowned at her mother and protested, "No wait, why?"

"Jean is doing what I would do to traitors." Anna heard her mother say, there was a mighty crackling sound that broke her train of thought.

The room lit up with blue light and the screams started. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!"

Two minutes later the man stopped screaming and the lightshow stopped. The smell of burnt flesh was pervasive and then it was suddenly cleared; Raven let go of Anna who turned to the place Jean was, her hair rising, an effect of the electricity she had used, before her was an ashen silhouette on the ground.

"Phew, okay that's that." Jean said, then her hair returned to normal. "I should stop using that ability, it always fucks with my hair."

Jean didn't seem to care one bit that she had killed a man, Anna wanted to judge her for that, but she realized that she must have reasons. The browned haired teen felt Jean's gaze on her, she smiled at her and waved. Anna awkwardly waved back.

Then she turned her head looking left and right and hollered, "Jemma, Leo, where are you guys?"

"Here Miss Grey!" A man's voice was heard, Anna looked right and she saw him hiding behind a bank of some kind of broad type of armoured, military vehicles. They were blocky and black in color.

The brown haired woman in white that had exited the portal earlier ran at Jean and hugged her. "We are safe! Finally, that Hydra agent bastard is dead. Thank you, thank you!"

Everyone in the room asked themselves mentally the question that Anna spoke aloud, "Huh, what's happenin'?"

"I will find out." Raven said as she strode toward Jean.

Jean started loudly explaining to everyone why they were gathered. They were all gathered to fight Hydra, the organization that Captain America had supposedly destroyed, that their organization, SHIELD, was infiltrated by them since the fifties. Director Carter, Phil Coulson and Nick Fury had assembled them all to form different teams to take out the Hydra High-Command.

She finally came to the point and also explained why she killed the black haired man. "Well, Hydra intercepted the mails sent to Fitz and Simmons; they then placed bombs around their necks with collars; this guy…" Jean pointed her finger to the ashen silhouette. "Grant Ward, was supposed to infiltrate us and give away our position or kill Director Carter, plant tracers, etc…"

"Oh, that's bad, really bad." Anna turned herself and saw the blonde woman who had held them at gunpoint earlier, she was cursing loudly.

Everyone seemed to know who the man Jean killed had been. Those SHIELD agents that were brought in with Anna's family began to speak between themselves and theorized or doubted the information given, some raged, others believed, some scoffed and denied Jean's words .

A big clap was heard and interrupted everyone who was speaking loudly. "So peeps, it's time to go to the main base. Whether you believe me or not, doesn't matter to me, Peggy and Fury will sort you out." Jean waved her hand and another bigger portal opened while the little one she had come through disappeared. "Chop chop, people, we don't have time to daydream."

Anna didn't want to argue, and took the handle of Irene's wheelchair and rolled her toward the portal, Raven followed her with Jean in tow.

**# # #**

**Egypt Base  
5 minutes later**

As everyone filed into the hangar filled with strange vehicles, Anna noticed that everyone was being herded by five people. The group consisted of a pink haired girl in a skintight white and blue armor, a gorgeous blonde in a black leather catsuit playing with a sheathed knife on her utility belt full of pouches; a huge muscle-bound man in a butler suit, another blonde in a skintight armor and a purple haired muscular girl in a similar outfit.

"Ah, they are finally doing something to earn their bread." Anna heard Jean say as she waved at the group.

Only the older blonde and pink haired teenage girl answered in kind; the others were busy ushering everyone into the tunnel to the left leading somewhere. Jean clapped, then turned to Anna's mothers. The two redheads looked at each other, it was as if two predators eyed the other for weaknesses.

Jean was the first to speak. "Raven, can I borrow Anna for a little while?"

Anna reacted to that, her alone with the extrovert Jean? She wanted to and at the same time she didn't, the brunette didn't trust herself with the redhead. Her mother seemed to have become aware of that fact.

Raven narrowed her eyes at the other redhead. "Don't try to seduce my daughter, Jean."

Jean pouted, turned and looked at Anna, almost devouring her with her eyes; the brunette felt as if she was being undressed, body and soul. To Anna the redhead seemed to be that type of person that sees right through you, even though you try to act not like yourself. She asked herself what Jean was seeing in her.

Jean smiled and made a coy expression directed at Anna. "Aww, but she's such a beauty! And her heart is in the right place..." She said in a sultry and provocative voice that did interesting things to the brunette's nether bits.

A fierce blush bloomed on Anna's face; Jean proud of herself turned to Raven who glared at her. To pacify the mother, she said with a placating tone, "It's part of what I promised you, Raven. She must make a choice."

*A choice? Between what?* Anna didn't like how she seemed to not understand what her mother wanted from Jean. She wanted to know what they had discussed when they had been in their home, during their hour of sipping tea.

Raven looked long and hard at Anna who squirmed under her gaze; it was a mix of sadness, worry and fear. She walked up to Anna, then hugged her fiercely, taking care to keep her skin from touching Anna's. After a moment, she let go of her daughter and straightened herself, then her eyes settled on Jean. "Very well, Jean. I trust you."

She turned to Anna, held her hand to her face and almost touched it. "Anna, I believe in you."

Frowning, Anna said. "Mom?" She did not understand what her mother's action meant.

Raven didn't explain herself, and went behind Irene, Anna's other mother. Jean walked up to the woman in the wheelchair. "Mrs Irene! My assistant will lead you to the lab where you can wait for me. I will start your treatment ASAP."

"Thank you, Jean for this opportunity." Irene lifted her face to where Jean's voice had come from; she was blind, and had been unable to walk since Anna was ten years old.

The young redhead knelt and took Irene's hands in hers, they began to glow with yellow golden light. Irene's cataract filled eyes, slowly dissipated and her white color, a sign of her mutation was fully visible.

Jean's hand stopped glowing as she said, "You held on for almost two centuries, you are such a strong and beautiful person, Irene… I will definitely save you."

The redhead stood up and backed away, and Irene who looked dazed lifted her eyes to Jean. "I can see you…" Raven placed herself at her lover's side and looked at her face. Turning her head, Irene finally saw her family. "Raven, Anna!"

For another ten minutes, the family gushed at the woman's recovered vision. This was the first time Irene could see someone with her eyes and not her precognitive powers; she had been visually impaired since birth in the mid 18th century, Anna remembered how Irene had told her that she went blind just after triggering her powers. She wanted to hug and kiss her mother, as usual that feeling of utter powerlessness gained her.

It was at this point that Jean arrived at Anna's side and took her naked hand in hers. "Follow me Anna, we need to talk."

Anna looked into the redhead's eyes. "But why? Ah wan-"

Irene and Raven looked at them, not interfering at all as they tacitly understood what was going to happen.

Jean pulled Anna to her, her face really close to the metahuman girl who wasn't used to being approached or touched anymore. "Follow me, please, it's really important."

Anna understood that there was no avoiding it. "Okay."

Two minutes later, Anna was being led to a place away from their previous location; her parents were taken somewhere else by another blonde girl who had cheerfully come to them. They went into a tunnel different from the one that the multitude of people that had come with them earlier had taken. The design of the base was similar to the one they were in before, but seemed older as the metal had less of a shine and the stone of the cavern seemed more eroded.

Anna had Jean pulling her by the hand, she was loath to take it back as it didn't displease her in the least. She tightened her grip on Jean's hand, the redhead stopped walking and turned to look at Anna, smiled and resumed their walk.

They arrived at the end of the tunnel, it was covered in green grass and the mouth of the tunnel was covered by pale white roots looking like an arch. Anna was pulled inside and the view of what was inside shocked her. The walls were covered in wood, trees of weird shapes formed structures inside the giant cavern they ended up in. It was as if someone had brought her into a fantasy book and thrown her into an elven city, the trees formed structures like stairs, garden furniture and shelters.

Lifting her head, Anna could see a central wooden platform in the air held by a solid trunk, a ramp made of wood led to it. At the foot of the white trunk was the most beautiful garden she had ever seen, big silvery and glowing flowers blossomed everywhere. Further out, there was a pond with silvery and clear water, bordered by blue flowers.

As she turned her head to watch the view in wonder, the yellow light coming from the cavern's ceiling and coming from crystalline formations almost blinded Anna as she stared at them too long, she shielded her eyes and looked down.

"Beautiful place isn't it?" Jean's voice interrupted Anna's experience of the beautiful space.

"Y-yeah, it is." The brunette blushed and stammered when she saw the intense stare directed at her.

Jean pulled Anna to the wooden ramp that would lead them to the central platform. "Careful not to walk on the flowers, the tree doesn't like people damaging them." She said absently.

"What?" Anna looked at her feet and avoided crushing a flower under her boots, she noticed that Jean didn't have her thigh-high boots anymore… *When…?*

Out loud Jean continued to speak. "The tree is alive, it's sentient." The redhead stopped walking as they were at the top of the platform.

Anna didn't realize that they were already this high, but she was still shocked by the other girl's revelation. A sentient tree. "Ya are kiddin' right?"

Jean turned to the girl, looked at her meaningfully and said, "No, I would never lie to you Anna."

Anna averted her gaze, flushing prettily. Then she looked at her feet and decided to take off her boots. She crouched and just did that, then a foreign feeling welled up inside her, it was as if someone was thanking her. "C-cain Ah speak to the tree?"

Jean smiled. "Maybe another time." Her face became serious. Then she led Anna to seats and a table that spontaneously grew on the platform. "I have something important to discuss with you." Jean let go of Anna's hand.

A sense of loss spread through the brunette for a moment. It was quickly dismissed when she realized that it would be a serious conversation. Anna sat and watched as Jean did the same; furiously thinking about why Jean wanted to speak to her. The redhead closed her eyes and waved her hand and with an audible 'clang' of something being locked up.

"There, now no one will enter the garden and eavesdrop on us." Jean said with a satisfied smile.

Anna gulped, realizing that the pretty girl was also a dangerous killer; she literally electrocuted a man ten minutes earlier. Something nagged at her and she realized what, how many powers did this girl have? First teleportation and portal creation, those Superman red beams out of her eyes and last lightning generation… *Something is strange with Jean Grey.*

Anna sighed and stopped asking herself questions. "Ya have me at a disadvantage here."

Jean chuckled and leaned in her seat. "Sorry, but this is sensitive information about you… I don't want anyone beyond your family to know about it."

Anna stood up in shock. *What?! What does she know, how-?*

She wanted to leave and… Anna forcefully calmed herself down. Looked at the redhead who looked calm herself and waited for her to get ahold of herself. "Ya're right." Anna sat back down. "So, why did ya lock me up with ya? Not that ah want ta leave or anythin'."

Jean had an expression on her face that told Anna that she didn't believe her. "It's simple, I am offering you two choices. Your mother asked me if I was able to help you control your abilities."

Standing back up and slamming her hands on the table, Anna shouted, "Ya cain do that?!"

This was the thing that she wanted to be able to do for so long. She had dreamed about it, the idea of being able to touch her mothers or other people without sucking their energy dry pleased her. She had been wishing all the while that she did not have to cover up so much around folks, to protect them from her.

"Yes." Jean said with complete confidence.

Anna didn't sit back, but looked intensely at Jean; letting her mind analyze what the redhead had been telling her and she realized something. "Ya said that ah have choices, there's more than one isn't there?"

Jean didn't smile, she was unable to as she dumped this next bit of news on Anna. "I can deactivate your X-gene, the genes responsible for our kind having powers."

This news elated her, she could be rid of her power; the thing that had been rendering her unable to live freely. With all that information being available to her now, Anna finally understood what her mother was telling her earlier when she said she **believed in her**.

"So either ah woman up or run?" Rogue asked with apprehension.

Her mother expected her to take the first choice, but it wasn't her who had to live with this curse. *Control or become a flatscan those are my choices.*

"Basically." Jean answered to both her thought and what she said, Anna not realizing it.

Anna crossed her arms and looked warily at Jean. "Why?"

This time Jean did smile. "Why what?"

"Why are you doing this? What's the catch?" Anna glared at her.

Jean stood up and skirted around the wood table, then sat at Anna's side of the table, looking into her eyes and telling her bluntly, "Your mother now works for me, I took her away from a life of crime and I am about to give her redemption and a way to shape the future of all Metahuman like us."

Anna bristled at that, the way Jean spoke as if she was thinking of them as chess pieces. The brunette glared at the other girl, her temper flaring. "So you, helping Ma' Irene was…"

Raising a hand, Jean stopped her from continuing her rant. "I would have saved her anyway, Destiny is important to the future. As are you."

Anna made a really unladylike snort, averted her eyes from Jean's and said, "As if."

Jean put a hand on Anna's cheek, caressing it and slid her finger under her chin, making Anna look at her. "Do you want to see? How powerful and needed you are?"

Anna tried to not get turned on by this simple gesture, but she couldn't, with titanic effort she batted away Jean's hand. Then she realized what the girl was telling her. "Ya cain do that?"

"There's a lot that I can do Anna." Jean bopped her on the nose and stood back. Cracking her knuckles, the redhead said aloud, "Now, sit back, I am going to show you who the Anna-Marie AKA Rogue that I know is." Jean stomped her right foot on the wood of the platform.

The platform fractured, cracks of light splintering into thousands of pieces. The world around Anna became blindingly bright, she closed her eyes and shielded them with her hands. When she reopened them, it was to see that she was inside a familiar decor. She had seen it on TV, when binging an entire season of Star Trek TNG, she was on the bridge of the Enterprise. The bridge command stations, the consoles and the main viewscreen.

On the Captain's chair sat Jean, typing on miniaturized status displays with interactive holographic screens. "Welcome to my mindscape, Anna."

Anna had a sly smile displayed on her face. "Ya're a geek."

"So are you, you recognize this place." Jean expertly counterattacked the barb.

Anna's smile turned into a thin line. She glared at Jean and harrumphed, "So what? Are ya showing me something or are ya here ta brag?"

Jean patted the seat at right. "Take a seat next to me, we are going to watch the lives of different versions of you to help you arrive at a decision."

Anna didn't argue and sat at Jean's side, their hands touching. She tightened her hold on it and thought about what the redhead said, "Other versions of me?"

Jean pushed a button on her chair, the viewscreen cleared and Anna's face appeared on the screen. It was her... But also not her, this Anna had a bob of hair, actually looked paler than her with a goth outfit that no one would catch her in! A spike of fear threatened to consume the young woman, suddenly she wasn't so sure that she wanted to see.

Anna felt Jean threading her fingers with hers, she looked at her, the redhead smiled at her in reassurance. "I have a lot of powers, Anna, I am sure you noticed."

The girl nodded, it was mind boggling what Jean was able to do. *Take this place for example, what was it? Another dimension? Reality? A mental projection?* Anna blanched, Jean was a telepath!

The coy smile thrown her way, told her that she was right. Still she didn't take her hand away from Jean's.

The redhead smiled. "I can break into other realities and use my temporal manipulation to show you what happened to iterations of yourself in other universes... I can also tell you it's going to be hard to watch, I did it for myself and I'm still reeling from what I've seen."

"Do it." Anna's eyes settled on the viewscreen, with the picture of the other Anna.

*She looked so sad. Just like me…* Anna didn't want to be seen as such a sad person.

"Curiosity killed the cat." Jean said aloud.

"Not this kitty." Anna didn't even look at her, just crossed her legs and looked straight at the screen.

With a chuckle, Jean pushed a button on the Captain's chair armrest. "Okay, we are going to start with Anna-Marie aka Rogue of Earth-11052."

Just like her, this Anna-Marie lived with Irene and Raven. However, contrary to this reality, she wasn't Raven's biological daughter. Anna frowned at this. On Earth-11052, Rogue was born from unknown parents and adopted by Raven when she was four; though with her duties to the Brotherhood, this Anna was raised by Irene in Caldecott County, Mississippi.

*Okay so far things are different but somewhat alike.*

This Irene was a good but strict mother; however, the similarities ended there and Anna became horrified. This Irene and Raven were nurturing her as a potential tool for power. For the Brotherhood.

Jean must have felt that Anna would have a panic attack so she put the screen on pause. "Don't worry, your mother and Irene aren't like those two. There's circumstances to this, okay?"

Doubt about her mother's love and everything she's been told or given surged through Anna's mind. "Okay, but…"

Jean dismissed her worry with a wave. "I am a telepath, I know that they love you, they would die for you."

That simple sentence, full of certainty dismissed any dark thought and doubt in herself. "Please, resume."

"Good girl." Jean pushed the button again.

The viewscreen resumed where it left off and Anna watched with dread. Irene as a precog was able to predict the form of Rogue's mutant abilities. In order to protect Rogue, she convinced Rogue that she had a skin condition that required she cover much of her skin.

Anna understood this Irene, even though she was manipulating her, still loved her unconditionally. She continued to watch and focused on what was shown to her. This other Irene was unable to predict when Rogue's powers would manifest, which happened when Rogue touched a shy footballer named Cody Driscoll, during a school dance. When she absorbed his memories it confused her greatly and she ran away.

"This happened to me! With the same guy! Please tell me he is alive, Jean, please."

Jean paused the screen again and looked at the brunette, but she shook her head. "He died while he was in a coma."

"Ah am a murderer." Anna said sadly as she took her hands back from Jean and looked at them in disgust.

Jean put a hand on her cheek. "Not yet. If you choose control as your choice you'll be able to wake him up."

Anna opened her mouth. "I…"

Jean bopped her again on the nose. "No, not yet, I want you to make an informed choice, Anna, this is the kind of choice that I am used to, the crushing responsibility is getting at you. Calm down first and then let's continue to watch."

Anna calmed down after taking Jean's hand back to settle her nerves. The scene on the viewscreen resumed.

Rogue was located by a bald man called Charles Xavier who wanted her to join his little band of child soldiers. Once again, events conspire against Rogue and Raven tricked her by telling her that the bald man wanted her dead. When he and the teenagers under his sway came for her, Rogue escaped. But not until Jean, fucking Jean gave her a communicator to contact them later, if ever.

"T-that's ya! Even in another life ya are there!" Anna cried out as she looked between the screen and the redhead at her side.

Jean didn't stop the screen this time, but sneered at the other woman sporting her appearance. "I don't like this particular me, she's annoying."

"But she's you!" Anna said with a frown.

Jean sighed, breathing out heavily. "There are differences, I will show you later okay?" She offered to the brunette.

Anna turned to Jean and covered the hand of the redhead she was already holding with her free one. "Ya'd do that?"

Jean nodded with a self-deprecating smile pasted on. "I'm not hypocritical enough to show you other yous, and not show you other mes."

"Thank you." Anna smiled.

They resumed viewing the screen and Anna was surprised by everything she saw. Her joining those X-men people after discovering that Raven had lied to her. Entering Bayville Highschool; meeting an adoptive brother called Kurt Wagner, a son of Raven. She also developed a strong attachment to some guy called Cyclops.

The guy had a stick up his ass, this Rogue girl had serious bad taste in men; she pined for this loser who obsessed over the Jean of this universe. Anna turned her face as she looked disgusted by that guy and wanted to barf. She realized that this Anna-Marie never was in control of her power. A good example of this was the way she could absorb personalities. The combined strength of those personalities she absorbed could be enough to overwhelm Rogue and take control of her body.

Then the scene shifted to some monstrous guy called Apocalypse who displayed the ability to somehow reverse Rogue's Energy absorption power, allowing him to drain all the powers and life-energy she had accumulated.

The viewscreen stopped here and Jean looked askance at Anna. Anna understood that Jean was waiting for her to ask a question. "Why wasn't she taught how to use her power?"

This was the first time Anna saw Jean angry, and it was terrifying to see, her eyes glowed a gold color, completely obscuring her green pupils. "That guy? The bald one is a useless sack of shit who likes to collect kids, brainwash them with his hippie shit about Mutants and Humans coexisting. A noble goal, sure, but he does nothing to do that, he sits on his chair, trying to sound wise and preach. Let me tell you that he never prepared the kids he had with him for the outside world, the world hates us and seeks to kill us in that reality."

Anna rationalized that Jean wasn't mad at her and analyzed what she was being told. "Are those X-men people some kind of cult?"

Jean's eyes became normal and she grinned at Anna. "Exactly, Xavier is a cult leader. He is a telepath like me but less powerful, he brainwashes everyone around him, making them trust him with this _trust-me_ telepathic field, and has this whole _Greater Good_ thing that sacrifices others for his ego. Multiple times and in a lot of realities, the guy lets the world burn, and does nothing. You and I, we are often victims of his."

Rogue bristled at that description, she never wanted to meet the guy. "Does he exist here? In our world ah mean."

Jean's expression became neutral, but the cold way she said, "Yes, he does." Told Anna that she wished he wasn't.

"Why didn't ya kill the fucka' yet?" Anna asked.

The redhead turned to her and held onto her stomach. Jean laughed and laughed, and patted Anna's hand. She took over a minute to calm down before saying. "Oh believe me, I will. But I won't do it yet. Killing Xavier so soon might be detrimental as he currently runs a school full of kids who need it. He still teaches them how to passively control their abilities, the bare minimum though. If he dies now… the important teachers, Ororo and Logan… as well as the students, they will scatter and might end up dead."

"I see. They are important to you?"

"Ororo and Logan are important not for their powers, but their value as human beings." Jean waved her hand and showed Wolverine on the screen fighting Magneto. Then showed Ororo trying to control her powers by forming storms and tornadoes in a desert landscape.

Jean continued to speak. "They are good people, the kids there see Logan as a father figure; if he leaves the school, he would end up taking on the emergent metahuman hating groups when our kind is revealed to the world. Ororo? She's awesome and motherly, she would try to run the school, but… she's no administrator and would not do as well as Xavier. You can say that the guy is useless, but he still has money and contacts in the government. Ororo doesn't."

The screen showed Ororo dejected and being overwhelmed by stress and eventually losing the school.

"Are you going to…" Anna wanted to ask Jean if she was ever going to show those people the light and bring them to work with her.

Jean showing once again she knew what the brunette thought still answered the unasked question. "Not yet. They are needed where they are now. Anyway, I have more of You to show you."

Anna didn't want to. "Hnng. Is that really necessary?"

"Yes. I want to show you a You that has developed some kind of control."

Rogue of Earth-16191 was on the screen, this time again she ran away from her parents home after turning Cody Driscoll into a vegetable, then once again she did a brief stint with Raven and Irene, she was made to absorb the personality and powers of a woman called Miss Marvel and got her powers forever. Rogue could fly, was near invulnerable and strong, really strong. She defected from the brotherhood and joined the X-men who for once weren't that bad this time around, but Xavier was still a weasel.

This incarnation of Anna joined a team called A-Force led by a green and muscle-bound yet sexy woman and saved the day; The screen was showing Rogue fighting zombies. For once, Anna was enthused in seeing herself with power somewhat under control. She turned her head to Jean who smiled at her. "This me, she cain't touch people, no?"

Jean shook her head. "This Rogue, she's almost on the cusp of finding a solution to your problem." Jean explained.

Anna still hoped. "Thanks for not sugarcoating it. C-cain we look at another one?"

"Yes." Jean pushed the button on her armchair.

Earth-58163, Anna-Marie Darkholme was different. This world was different. Grittier than their current one as it had been embroiled in a human-mutant war launched by Magneto, the madman had won. Rogue was placed in a human orphanage until it was discovered that she actually had powers.

Upon discovering her mutant abilities, the government sent two SHIELD Agents, Mystique and Madame Web, a telepath, to the orphanage. They were able to convince this universe's Anna to come with them to SHIELD and to train as an agent. Rogue was the perfect agent, and she was trained in martial art and possessed the mastery of multiple weapons.

The best day in the life of this Anna was when she was adopted by the Raven of her world and gained a brother. She became a superb agent and joined Logan's elite team of SHIELD agents, called the Red Guard. She eventually absorbed someone's power, and became terribly powerful. A guy called Genis-Vell, the offspring of a genetically-enhanced Kree Super-soldier, backed by vast cosmological bolstering and a genetically-perfected Titanian Eternal.

Jean suddenly stopped the viewscreen and turned it off as the Anna-Marie of this Earth looked directly at them.

"Phew! She almost caught us." Jean fanned herself.

Anna tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

Jean laughed nervously. "Well, Anna, your double was going to find us, so I stopped the feed... There are some people you shouldn't fuck with in the Multiverse, you know."

Anna nodded that she understood, if Jean, who was this strong was telling her that they shouldn't mess with some people, she was willing to follow her example.

Jean sighed. "Okay… I will show you the last one."

"This time she will be able to be in control?" Anna guessed.

"See for yourself." Jean smiled and waved her hand and the viewscreen flared into life.

This time, Earth-295 Rogue's story unfolded differently. A mutant called Apocalypse declared war on humans for the conquest of Earth and to execute his belief in survival of the fittest. Meanwhile, Rogue fled her family, briefly working with a mutant named Lorna Dane who was able to manipulate magnetic fields but had a disagreement that turned into a fight and the brunette absorbed half of Lorna's power. Raven found Rogue wandering the countryside in Alabama, amnesic.

Rogue was retrieved from America at the request of Magneto. He sent Raven to save her because one of his spies had discovered that Apocalypse coveted the young girl's extremely powerful abilities. Rogue lived a life of adventure and terrifying losses. Her life was about trying to master her powers and survive Apocalypse's war and survive with her friends the X-men.

Rogue found love but had to choose between two men, Gambit and Magneto. In the end she chose to be with the older man. Anna who was watching this almost puked.

"What the hell, me!" Anna pushed the button on Jean's armchair herself.

Jean looked green. "I agree…"

The brunette married the old guy, they had a son called Charles and years later, Rogue and Magneto ended the war or at least the Jean of that reality did.

"You always save the day, Jean." Anna gushed.

Jean snorted. "But that me gets shafted by fate too."

Anna pushed the play button and realized as the story continued to unfold that Jean was throwing stones in a glasshouse. "The you in that reality married some old dude too, though."

"Believe me, Logan isn't some old dude to me." Jean purred.

Anna narrowed her eyes at the redhead, she didn't like to hear Jean speak about someone else, strangely. She returned her gaze to the viewscreen and realized that they were done. But at least she had seen that she was able to control her power in another reality.

Now that they were done with showing examples of what Anna could be, the redhead pressed for that choice, that the brunette should make. "What is your decision, Anna? Are you willing to learn how to control your power or… do you want me to take them away from you?"

After parsing and collating the experiences of every Anna-marie from those other realities. Anna decided that she would become Rogue, that she couldn't not be her. She looked at Jean who held her hand. "One day Ma' Irene told me something: What comes easy won't last, what lasts won't come easy. Is there a risk that they might reawaken? Mah powers, ah mean."

Jean didn't answer for another thirty seconds, then she reluctantly nodded. "Yes, it's a big risk, any traumatizing events will give them back to you."

"Then mah path is set, Jean. Ah want ta try ta control them." Anna crossed her arms, feeling that her road was going to be arduous and filled with trials.

Jean clapped, then smiled at the brunette. "Okay, I will help you. I already know how to do so."

Anna happily smiled back. "T-thank ya, Jean."

There was nothing else to do; Jean asked Anna, "Do you want me to show you what happens to me in most realities?"

The brunette frowned and nodded. "Please, ah noticed a pattern, ya are being handed bad hands each time." It was disturbing Anna.

Jean showed her, most of the time she ended up in the hands of Charles Xavier and he mentally whammied her because of something in her mind that he didn't understand; Jean became an emotionally stunted person and got together with that guy Scott. *Eww.*

But Scott and Jean were in fact controlled by some old creepy British guy that she had seen in her own dimensional doubles' stories, called Sinister. He cloned her and when Jean died, Scott got together with her clone and the two of them had a son. When Jean came back, Scott got back with her and the poor clone went crazy and went back to that Sinister guy. Jean died multiple times across realities, it was almost the same fate that was handed to her.

There were more situation like Jean becoming a fuck toy to some Atlantean king named Namor or Scott cheating on her with some bitch called Emma. She always ended up being given the short end of the stick with men trying to control her or died messily...

Anna stood up and hugged Jean tightly. "Ah'm sorry."

"What for?" Jean said as she patted her back lamely.

Anna let go of Jean and said, "Ah thought mah life was horrible, but this? It puts everything that happened ta me in perspective."

Jean smiled and patted Anna's head. "Don't worry, I told Xavier to put his invitation to his school where the sun doesn't shine. My life is quite different from my dimensional doubles."

Sighing, the brunette couldn't help but express herself. "Thank god for that."

Then Anna realized that she was on Jean's lap and that the redhead was holding onto her. She didn't understand how, but her lips were suddenly on Jean's; she smooched her, Jean pushed her away and looked surprised.

Jean was the first one to give her hope, to touch her after three years of no human contact; gave her insight on what her powers could be. Anna realized that she had fallen in love with another girl.

"Anna… you…" Jean was shocked and stammered, unable to speak.

Anna chuckled and felt her lips with her free hand. Aloud she said, "This is my second kiss and ya didn't faint or fall into a coma."

Jean closed her eyes in frustration, "Anna…"

"Hey, wanna go out?" Anna noticed that the girl didn't chase her off yet. She felt that Jean was interested.

Jean tried to pry her off her, but the girl held on. "Anna I can't…"

Anna pouted at Jean. "Why? We can…"

And like a death knell ringing, Jean announced. "I'm with someone, Anna."

The brunette stopped moving, blushed in embarrassment, and as diverse emotions like anger, rejection, sadness and acceptance passed on her face; she settled on a resolute expression. She didn't flee the comfy thighs she sat on and said, "It's not going to stop me. Jean, I want you." Anna tried to kiss Jean again, but the redhead hurriedly made the mindscape projection of the Enterprise's bridge snap back into reality and the two girls fell on the wooden ground of the platform.

The two girls separated, and looked at each other. Anna giggled impishly while Jean sighed and said, "Cindy is going to kill me."

**# # #**

**Back with Jean  
20 minutes later  
Lab Complex**

I escaped Anna after dumping her in the dormitories and sicking Julia on her. That was so not cool from Anna, kissing me like that. I needed to talk to Cindy and tell her what happened; I wasn't going to hide what Anna did. Finally stepping into the lab complex, my sanctuary, I mentally scanned for Raven and Irene.

I found them in the medical room, being attended by Gwen who seemed to like the work I was giving her. The door swished open, and I passed through and saw that Irene was still in her wheelchair. Raven was at her side, observing Gwen pointing the physiological scanner at Irene.

"I'm back." I announced with a chirpy tone.

Gwen's head turned to me, she smiled and placed the scanner on its pedestal on the medical table at the three women's side.

The blonde girl waved. "Jeanie welcome back, I've finished taking scans of Mrs Adler like you wanted."

*Excellent.* I couldn't get a baseline of how much Peggy's physiology had been enhanced the last time, as it was life or death for her. But now I had the time to see how much Phoenix Rebirth could enhance a baseline human, even an ailing one. Yes, I intended to enhance Irene to the same level that Raven was, it was part of their bargain. I could easily make Irene functionally immortal but still able to be killed.

I threw a thumbs up at the blonde. "Thank you Gwen, will you be able to assist me with the rejuvenation treatment?"

"Certainly." Translation: You'd have to beat me with a large stick to make me leave, duh. It was literally what she said in her thoughts.

*I turned Gwen into a monster…* I lamented innerly.

"Where is Anna?" Raven spoke out loud, interrupting me whining about introducing the sexy blonde mad scientist to a high-tech lab.

I sighed as I was thinking about those pink lips and those clear green eyes. I tried to dismiss the brunette's face from my thoughts; looking straight into Raven's eyes I said, "I dropped her off in the dormitories with my elder sister, she was hungry."

There was a tense silence, then some seconds later, Raven asked the question that had been burning her since she noticed I was in the room. "What is the verdict?"

I said with deliberate slowness, "Anna has decided…" I let the tension climb for a moment before continuing as Raven was ready to shake me like a ragdoll. "…to learn how to control her abilities."

Raven and Irene sighed in relief. The old woman put a hand on her chest and gave me a happy smile. "That is great news!"

The blue skinned shapeshifter gave a rare smile, I could feel her satisfaction of knowing that her blood ran true, that her Anna was not a quitter. Irene was the same, I knew that I was fucking with the timeline just by existing thanks to my impromptu meeting with the ancient one, the old woman had been scared of all those events she wrote in her diary not happening.

*Precogs rely on their abilities too much.* I snorted in derision.

If I was able to disrupt set paths to different timelines, there was surely a way to compensate for them; I would need to take a dream class with Phoenix to get to know how to avoid time shenanigans from any fledgling time traveler or simply deny the use of such devices. If there was something that you didn't fuck with it was time.

"It wasn't easy, Mrs Irene, she's even more stubborn than Raven." I answered the precog.

Anna refused to give up when I told her that I was already in a relationship. Sure she was hot, *Damn, that ass…* But I had something beautiful already with Cindy and I didn't want to fuck it up; I'd seen enough movies or real life examples to know that two timing was bad.

Everyone turned their head to Raven. The shapeshifter made a stubborn expression and crossed her arms. As for Irene she laughed and said, "I can't even deny that."

I clapped, it was finally time to get this show on the road. "Okay, now it's time to start. Raven, can you come to this side of the room, please?"

Raven reluctantly left Irene's side, letting go of her hand that fell into her lap. Irene then looked at me, her white eyes clear and without fear in them; she obviously already knew what I was going to do to her.

Irene gazed at Raven and said with a soothing voice. "Please don't be alarmed, my love."

Raven furrowed her brow and asked, "By What?"

I didn't wait and simply let my inner fire burst forth, my body covered in flame and my aura took on the form of the raptor of life.

SKREEEEEE!

**# # #**

**2 hours later  
Jean's bedroom**

Irene Adler was now back to her prime, she was taller than me and a voluptuous woman of european descent. When Raven had seen me set fire to the love of her life, I had to contain her, but I explained everything that was happening by showing her memories of Peggy's healing; the Phoenix Rebirth process formed a cocoon around Irene's body and then the wait had begun.

I made the same change that had saved Peggy's life and given her back her youth with a dash of enhanced abilities. Why change what works? But now Irene was younger and functionally now ageless with enhanced physiology on par with Peggy's. If people said that I didn't take care of my people, they were big fat liars.

It was now time to have some me time; and that's why I was sitting on my black throne in my bedroom, about to contact the Celestial AI. I had made a lot of preparations, but it still wasn't enough. When I went after HYDRA, I wanted to crush them with an almighty blow that would uproot them completely. For that I needed to be lightyears ahead of everyone on our little unremarkable planet.

**Welcome, Administrator Jean Grey. What can I do for you?**

With a predatory smile I said, "Help me create an AI."

The Celestial AI construct didn't answer me right away, through my technopathy I could feel that it was considering my request. I had a clear goal in mind now, Tony had the right idea, I needed a helper in the lab to make the stuff I couldn't be bothered to do.

**[User Jean Grey. Query: For what do you need the creation of a new helper unit?]**

"I need one to delegate certain tasks to, I noticed that my strong suit is more into designing inventions and I think that an AI would be a great help to craft what I come up with, your kind is more accurate and precise."

**[User Jean Grey. Query: Will it be a slave?]**

My eyes narrowed at that. "Do you think I am that self important fool, Sinister? That I am so callous, that I would stoop to enslaving newborns?"

**[User Jean Grey. Query: Will you?]**

Breathing in and out, I calmed myself down. The AI was testing me. "No I won't, I swear it."

**[User Jean Grey. Query:What are your specifications for your helper?]**

I smiled and told him what I wanted:

**Gender: **Female programming.

**Primary function:** Research assistant, Software infiltration, Virtual Assistant, Software/Hardware security, Caretaker, Assisting Jean Grey and her Family units.

**Appearance:** The AI will choose it herself.

**Name: **Evolving Virtual Entity

**Hardware:** Dynamic memory-processor matrix

**Status:** Bound (Unshackling code to be given at the maturity of the unit)

I was surprised to see the speed at which my new AI's code was already being written. That Celestial AI was a hard worker.

_.:Execute Main Program Rewrite Alpha Phalanx One:._

_.:Executing:._

_.:ETA: 15h59m46s:._

_.:Integration: 5h59m46s:._

I think that I forgot something. It quickly came to me and I snapped my fingers in remembrance. "What do I need to house the Smart Artificial Intelligence?"

**[Minimum system requirements: A three dimensional crystalline holo programmable matrix processor]**

My eyes almost fell out of their sockets. "Shit! I have fifteen hours to create something like that?! There's only so many hours in a day, you know?"

I didn't have the tools nor the time to create such things but… then I realized that I was the Phoenix's avatar, that time was trivial to me. "Oh."

I knock on my head, feeling like an idiot. "I can create a time dilation field with the Phoenix Force and focus it on areas of the lab complex in which time will move faster or slower than in the surrounding space, depending on what I wanted. I don't need to eat, drink nor sleep."

**[User Jean Grey. Query: Are you in need of something else?]**

"No, I'm good while you're creating EVE, I will prepare the hardware she needs, I will see you later."

**[User Jean Grey. Query: E.V.E?]**

"That's the acronym for my new family member that you are creating. Thank you for doing that for me."

**[User Jean Grey. Ally]**

"Yeah, I guess we are. I must go now." I said, then the Holo-screen showing the AI avatar disappeared but the Throne didn't turn off.

Cracking my knuckles, I prepared myself mentally for the longest month of my life. *Hydra, I am going to crush you.*


End file.
